The Grand Elemental Tournament
by Santoryuu
Summary: The prequel to our first fic The Elemental Duelist Saga. The beginning finally comes to an end in Paths of Destiny...
1. Destiny Signal

A/N: Here's a little Christmas gift to all of our loyal fans. We aren't sure how often it will update yet, but we'll see how popular it is.

Disclaimer: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Please don't sue us.

_**Aye…**_

_**It was one year ago that they showed up at my "Grand Elemental Tournament."**_

_**Each one of them was unique…**_

…_**special…**_

…_**and an idiot to boot!**_

_**But what do you expect when you try to find good help from "Generation Y?"**_

_**I know "Y." Because there a bunch of stupid little punks, that's why!**_

_**But I digress…**_

_**My name is Needlez. And I was once known as the Elemental Master. And I was so close to becoming an elemental god. But I was defeated, betrayed by my peers seven-thousand years ago. And just when you think times have changed, history repeats itself like a broken record.**_

**_I thought that if I came back in this modern time, I'd find someone gullible enough to follow me. I was right. Six times, I was right. Until they wised up that is. My own personal traitors, just like before._**

_**But this story isn't about that. This is about what happened before…**_

_**How six regular duelists, who barely qualified for the finals of their local card shop tourneys…**_

_**Became the Elemental Duelists.**_

**Santoryu presents**

**A prequel to "The Elemental Duelists Saga"**

**The Grand Elemental Tournament**

**Prologue**

**Destiny Signal**

In a dark cave, somewhere in the mountains of Japan, a lone figure sat. He looked to be about seventy, and wore a simple gray business suit. His gray hair was neatly trimmed, and he held a golden pocket watch in his right hand. Set in the front of the watch was a shimmering blue-green stone.

He stood in a small chamber, with nothing but six stone tablets around him and a large pillar of green crystal in the center. Sealed within the crystal was a mummified corpse, thin and dry as bone (albeit, that about all that was left of it), with a permanent scowl on what was left on its face.

"I thought I was feeling old before." The man muttered in a Scottish accent, "Looking at this really makes me feel my age."

He turned around, and pulled a stack of paper out of his coat. He frowned and the papers flew out of the room, carried by a mysterious breeze.

"It took too long finding the components I need." He sighed, "I canna' do this myself, I need some younger blood."

He strolled from the room, and down a short tunnel. He entered a larger chamber, and took a seat on a black throne made of obsidian. He sighed, and several torches along the walls ignited.

"All this practice, and this body barely contains one-one hundredth of my former power." He growled, "I need to find me someone who will be able to learn this quickly, someone who is truly dedicated to the elements, and most importantly…"

He reached into his pocket, and removed a stack of cards.

"Someone who has managed to slip under the radar." He concluded.

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_Tornado Mills, Kansas, USA_

_2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)_

_Friday, June 17th 2005._

Tornado Mills was a small, rural community. The largest (and oldest) building was, naturally, an abandoned mill that had been closed after a tornado struck it (hence the name of the town). Most people who came through barely knew they were in a village. The houses were spaced very far apart, and ranged from small Victorian style homes to large farmlands.

But this village still had enough to keep itself relatively self sufficient. It even had its own elementary school, part of which still resembled the old-fashioned one-room school house it had been built from. This room now served as one of the classrooms, and was currently filled with twenty students. The children were about seven-years-old each, and seeing that it was last day of classes and all final exams had already been completed, the children were being allowed free time.

One such child was a young girl. She had blond, shoulder length hair, green eyes, and was wearing a spring-green jumper and white t-shirt. She was gazing longingly out the window, and occasionally checked the clock. She let out a frustrated sigh when she saw that it hadn't moved ahead since she checked it fifteen seconds ago, and reached into the pocket of her jumper.

As she pulled out a stack of Duel Monsters cards, she looked around at her classmates. Most were reading books from the classroom shelves, some were playing other card games like Go Fish, and one kid at the back of the room had fallen asleep in his chair.

"_Zeffie is so bored!"_ The girl moaned in her head (referring to herself in third person out of habit) as she shuffled the cards, _"Why won't Mr. Clock hurry up and make it 2:45!?"_

Looking around again, she saw a couple of kids were gathered close to the window. One of them glanced to the teacher, who was looking through a book of her own and glancing up every couple of minutes, and then carefully pushed the glass portal open and snatched something from the sill outside.

Her interest thoroughly piqued, Zeffie slid away from her assigned seat, and joined the duo.

"See Sammy," One of the kids whispered as he held out his prize, "It's some kind of poster."

"And it's announcing a tournament!" The other whispered excitedly.

"Can Zeffie see?" Zeffie whispered to them.

The two boys looked up. One had brown hair and brown eyes, the other (called Sammy by his friend) had darker hair and blue eyes. They exchanged nervous glances as Sammy's friend tried to hide the paper behind his back.

"Just for a minute?" Zeffie pleaded.

"No." Sammy snapped quickly.

Zeffie stepped back with a gasp. She started to turn to the teacher to get her attention, when Sammy waved his hand to stop her.

"Wait!" He hissed, "It's just a Duel Monster's tournament, you wouldn't be interested anyway."

"But Zeffie loves Duel Monsters!" Zeffie almost shouted.

Some of the others turned to her, and the teacher's attention moved away from her book. Sammy seemed quite shocked by the answer, and smiled as he took a stack of cards from his pocket.

"Oh really?" He challenged, "Well I'm one of the best duelists in school. If you beat me, you can have the poster." 

"O.K.!" Zeffie said as she and Sammy pushed two small tables together to make a dueling field.

"You sure about this?" Sammy's friend asked.

"Don't worry, girls can't play Duel Monsters." Sammy assured him.

"Oh yeah?" Zeffie smiled as the two drew their opening hands.

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_Tornado Mills, Kansas, USA_

_3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)_

_Friday, June 17th 2005._

Outside the Tornado Mills Elementary stood a rather large man. He stood about six-and-one-half feet tall, and was heavily muscled. He had dark brown hair and eyes, and was currently wearing an old-white t-shirt and a pair of worn out blue jeans. His shoes were worn sneakers, which seemed to be approaching their last legs.

He was standing near the playground, where the children adjourned for recess during the school day. At the moment though, no one was present on any of the equipment.

"_Julius Gold, with all the stuff you've put up with earlier in your life, why do you have to tolerate a hyperactive seven-year-old?" _The imposing figure wondered to himself.

At that point, the school bells rang, and children flooded from the building. One in particular, Zeffie, immediately spotted the lone man and ran toward him at top speed.

"GOLDIE!" Zeffie cheered as she jumped up and latched her arms around his waist.

"_Oh yeah, she's cute."_ Mr. Gold realized as he carefully pried the girl loose.

Mr. Gold picked up Zeffie, and perched her up on one of his broad shoulders. Zeffie smiled, and waved a piece of paper in front of the larger man's face.

"Hey Goldie, look what I got!" Zeffie smiled as she held the poster right up to Gold' nose.

Gold laughed a bit and took the paper from the child.

"Watch it Zef, you gonna give me a paper cut if you keep doing that." He said as he looked over the poster.

**Attention Duelists of the Elements!**

**Do you specialize in using one particular attribute in your deck? Are you sick of facing "cookie cutter" decks? Do other duelists mock you for being original with your elemental theme? Then consider this a break, and a reward. A chance to duel with your true peers.**

**On Saturday, June 25th 2005, we will hosting _The Grand Elemental Tournament_ at 487 Norington Lane.**

**Sign in time is at 9:00 a.m. sharp. Details regarding tournament set up will be explained there. The only requirement is that your deck be based around one of the six attributes of Duel Monsters: Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, Light, or Darkness.**

**Amazing prizes will be awarded to the strongest of each attribute. This is the chance you've been waiting for!**

**Signed,**

**Underground Dueling Committee of Kansas.**

**P.S. **

**We will be using Duel disks during this tournament. If you do not have one, one will be provided for you for use in the tournament. Don't miss this chance of a lifetime!**

"Can we go?" Zeffie asked, bouncing up and down on her perch, "Please, please please please…."

Zeffie continued saying please without pause as Gold looked over the poster again.

It had been a while since he had been in a big tournament, there hadn't been many to attend since he had moved from New York City.

Gold had always had a rough time in life, he was forced to drop out of high school so he could get a job to help support his family. Even after getting married, money was tight and his wife eventually left him and took their daughter (leaving him to make child-support payments). It was almost by chance he learned about the money that could be earned in Duel Monsters tournaments, and an even greater chance had come about last year.

After sweeping through a tournament as per his usual, Gold found himself scouted out by a man known as Don Gale, who was looking for a talented duelist to represent his "business" in a small tournament. While hesitant at first, Gold learned how well the job could pay and signed on.

The tournament was also doubling as a birthday party for Don Gale's niece: Zeffie. It was here that Zeffie and Gold first met and, after a security incident that Gold managed to set straight, Don named Gold as Zeffie's official caretaker. In order to fulfill his duties as a caretaker better, Gold agreed to be moved out to Tornado Mills and live near Zeffie.

The job paid well, as did his job as a construction worker in Kansas City, but it left little time for tournaments. So this man, who had been known as 'The Fighting Mountain' in New York City dueling circles, slid from the lime light.

Looking from the poster to the girl on his shoulder, Gold smiled.

"Okay, if your parents say yes then I'm okay with this." He nodded.

"Yeah!" Zeffie cheered, "Thankyouthankyou…"

Gold chuckled a bit as Zeffie thanked him all the way home.

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_Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A._

_4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)_

_Saturday, June 18th 2005._

"Another victory for, the Amazing Dueling Hokage Brothers!" A pair of duelist shouted, high-fiving each other.

The first had sandy-brown hair, and stood about and inch taller than the other, he looked about sixteen. He wore a black t-shirt and a black jacket over it. He had blue jeans which frayed near the cuffs, just above his gray sneakers.

The other wore a red shirt that matched his spiky hair, and was around fifteen. He wore black cargo pants and worn-out black and orange sneakers. Both of them had blue eyes, and were smiling as they stepped up to the counter of the small card shop they were in.

The owner of the shop, an older man in his fifty's wearing a pressed white shirt and black pants with a leather belt, scowled as they approached.

"You boys won again!" He shouted as he slammed a box of booster packs onto the counter, "You have to stop doing this. You're scaring away all my customers."

"Not our fault if they can't handle a little competition." The older one said, "Besides, Tim and I win every week."

"It's tradition, Brian and I don't want to break it." The younger brother agreed.

"Well you're starting to break my sales." The owner growled, pointing at a large cork board, "Those are people who can't play in the tourney here anymore. Check the latest two additions…"

Brian and Tim walked to the board, and saw two names freshly inked at the bottom of a slip of paper on it. The names were "Brian Hokage" and "Timothy Hokage."

"Wait, you're banning us!" Brian shouted, "But that isn't fair, we didn't do anything wrong!"

"You annoyed me, and almost no one participates in the Duel Monsters tournament if they know that you're going to be here." The owner growled crossing his arms, "The last time you missed it, I had a five page sign up list and made a killing on entry fees alone!"

"So we're banned because it profits you." Tim protested, pointing an accusing finger at him, "You know we're your best customers."

"You can still buy things." The owner sighed.

"But what's the point if we can't play here?" Tim asked, "I get bored just kicking Brian's butt…"

Tim was cut off as his brother smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Tim shouted, rubbing the back of his head.

"If that's how you feel, we'll take our business elsewhere." Brian sighed.

"But before we do, can we exchange this week's prize for some more store credit?" Tim asked.

"You must have at least five-hundred dollars each!" The owner said as he put the box back (something he had grown used to over the years), "What could you possibly be saving for?"

"Those." Brian responded, pointing to a pair of boxes, each with a $450 price tag.

The owner saw them and gulped.

"But we just got those in once Battle City ended." He stammered, "Are you two telling me you've been saving up all this time for those?"

"You bet." Brian nodded, "And we'll take them to go."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Outside the shop, both boys tore into the boxes and smiled as they each removed a shiny new duel disk. They gleamed metallic silver in the light of the summer afternoon, and both of the Hokage brothers inserted their decks.

"It was worth it." Tim smiled as he attached his to his arm.

"Totally." Brian agreed as he strapped his on.

"Should we try them out now?" Tim asked, looking it over.

"Nah, let's wait till we get home." Brian said as he started down the street.

The two of them set off down the city street, heading for the bus stop. Their house was back in the suburbs, but the best card shop around was here in the heart of "the windy city." They had been attending the tournaments there for at least two years, and had been winning weekly for at least a year and a half.

It was the same routine every Saturday. Get up, catch the ten o'clock bus downtown, play Duel Monsters for a few hours, exchange the prize, and catch the four o'clock bus home.

But this time, as they waited near the street light for the bus, something caught Brian's eye. Fixed to the lamp post was a poster, emblazoned with several strange characters. Six in particular caught his eye though.

"Hey Tim, look at this." Brian commented, gesturing to the poster.

Tim looked up. In a circle around the top of the poster were six Japanese characters. More importantly, they were the ones that represented the attributes on Duel Monster cards. Beneath the circle was the following message:

The poster was similar to the one that Zeffie had found, only this one advertised a location in Chicago. Brian read it over, his smile growing as he let his brother look.

"What do you think?" Brian asked as the bus pulled up.

Tim smiled, looked both ways, and tore the poster down. He folded it up, and stuffed it in his pocket as the two got on the bus.

"I think someone's gonna get burned on this deal." He smiled.

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_Los Angeles, California, USA_

_2:00 p.m. (Western Time)_

_Saturday, June 18th 2005._

It was a hazy, humid afternoon in one of the biggest cities in the country. On the outskirts of the city, in a suburban area, the people were really feeling the heat. The sun beat down mercilessly, and everyone was either sitting in their air-conditioned homes, or lying out under the shade of a tree, allowing their automatic sprinklers to splash them occasionally.

One of the latter (minus the sprinklers) was a brown haired sixteen-year-old girl lying in a hammock in the yard behind a large, white house. She wore a white tank top and shorts, her matching sneakers lying on the ground nearby. On a small glass table next to her was a glass of lemonade and a stack of duel monsters cards. Curled up on her stomach was a brown house cat, dozing gently.

Suddenly, from the house, a terrifying screech sounded. The girl sat up with a start, and the cat tumbled to the ground. It meowed indignantly, and curled up again.

"WHERE IS CELESTE!!" The voice shouted, "SHE STAYED HOME FROM CHURCH TO GO TO ANOTHER TOURNAMENT, DIDN'T SHE!!"

The girl sighed, and quickly shoved the deck of cards in her pocket. She knelt down, and scooped up her cat, which meowed in an upset way at being awakened again.

"Come on Gabriel, Aunt Lumia is home, and Mom is still at work. Time to head Barb's house for a few hours…" She whispered to her pet.

The cat meowed again as Celeste put on her shoes and carried him across the neighbors yard, and then back out to the sidewalk. She smiled as she headed toward the end of the street, the screeching fading away behind her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After about five minutes, Celeste and Gabriel reached the end of the street. Situated on the corner was a standard, two-story suburban home. It was colored green with a white door. She looked over her shoulder and, neither hearing nor seeing any sign of her aunt, knocked on the door.

"Coming!" A voice shouted.

The door was opened to reveal a blond-haired girl, the same age as Celeste. She wore a pink t-shirt with the word "Girl Power" written in red on the front, and red shorts. She had a pink visor on, and a pair of pink sunglasses.

"Oh, hi there Celeste!" She said with a bright, peppy smile, "What brings you here today?"

"Hi Barb. You know my aunt. Bitching for the lord, as usual on a Saturday." Celeste shrugged.

"You didn't go to another tournament, did you?" Barb asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"Of course I did. It's more fun than church." Celeste smiled as she stepped inside.

"So's solitaire, but I'd never get away with skipping Sunday Mass." Barb commented as she led the way through the house, "You'd think with a deck full of angels, you'd be a total religious kook like Lumia."

"Thankfully, that's not the case." Said a young man as he walked into the room.

He had tan skin and short blond hair. His brown eyes were obscured by a pair of sunglasses, and he wore a red muscle-shirt and blue jeans. On his feet were a pair of sandals.

"GEORGE!" Barb screamed, "How did you…"

"You left the back door unlocked, like you always do." The teen laughed, "Hi Celeste, I heard your aunt howling, so I figured you were coming here."

Barb sighed, and the trio passed through another room, and then into the backyard. Like most on the block, it was very spacious, covered in soft green grass with a picnic table in the center. Celeste knelt down and released Gabriel, who immediately dashed over to the table and stretched out underneath it.

"So, you win anything good this week?" Barb asked as she took a seat.

Celeste pulled out four cards, and showed them to the other two. One was spell card showing the image of a heavenly palace. The second was a monster card, this one a wise looking man wearing armor and stroking his blond beard. The third was also a monster, this one a two headed serpent covered in blue scales. The last one was a hideous corpse, wearing the remains of a red and blue robe and carrying a golden staff.

"Sweet!" George cheered as he took the card with the human on it, "I've been looking for Freed the Matchless General for months."

"And Ocean Dragon Lord Neo Daedelus." Barb said in awe, "You're the best!"

"Hey, you guys are my friends." Celeste smiled as she shuffled the spell into her own deck, "I got the four as a package prize at the shop, and I couldn't believe my luck…"

"Is that for me?" Asked a hushed voice behind her.

Celeste looked over her shoulder. A girl, once more about sixteen, wearing a long black coat and skirt stood behind her. Her face was pale, and she wore black eyeliner. Her black hair cascaded down to her shoulders, and her red eyes were focused on the last card in Celeste's hand.

Celeste just smiled however, and held the card up to the girl. She smiled as she gripped it between two black nailed fingers.

"Fushioh Richie, just like you wanted Chris." Celeste smiled.

"Um…Christina? Do you, like, have to where those creepy red contacts _all_ the time?" Barb asked with a shiver.

Christina smirked and swept her skirt back as she sat down across from Barb. She pulled a stack of cards from her pocket and began to shuffle her new card into it.

"You know as well as I do that I have a prescription for contact lenses." Chris explained, "And you also know I prefer to be called Chris. Only my mom can call me Christina."

"Sorry." Barb muttered as she shuffled her own deck, "But hey, as long as we're all here, how about one of our little mini-tourneys?"

"Sounds good." George agreed as he and Celeste sat down.

----------------------------------------------------

One hour later…

"And Agent of Creation Venus attacks Barb directly for the game." Celeste declared.

"You always win." Barb moaned as she picked up her cards, "Seriously, you're untouchable Celeste."

Gabriel crawled out from under the table, and let out a stifled yawn. The cat stretched, and then hopped into Celeste's lap with a meow.

"What I don't get is why you don't just start going to Regionals." George commented.

"Yeah, you're easily the best out of all of us." Chris agreed.

Celeste smiled at the compliment, but at the same time she paled slightly. She gently stroked Gabriel's back, and the cat purred as he rubbed against her.

"It's…A long story. And I'm not in the mood to tell it." Celeste explained simply.

"Well I've got something you might be interested in." Chris declared as she pulled a folded square of paper from the folds of her skirt, "I found this out at the coffee shop downtown, and I thought you might be interested."

Celeste unfolded the paper, and looked it over.

Celeste looked over her own copy of the Grand Elemental Tournament poster, a thoughtful look on her face.

Celeste read the poster over again, and then looked at her cards.

"Well, I'm not sure. Maybe if Barb would come too…" Celeste started.

"Can't, that's my grandma's birthday party." Barb sighed as she looked at the date on the announcement.

"What about the two of you?" Celeste asked George and Chris.

"Neither of our decks is based around an element though." George pointed out, "I use lots of different attributes of warriors, and the same goes with Chris's zombies. It's either Barb's water or your light, and you are the best of us."

"Besides, it's a no lose situation." Chris pointed out, "Maybe starting with bigger underground tournament like this will be just what you need to get your confidence up to go to big tournaments."

"Yeah, and you'll have an excuse to skip church again." Barb encouraged.

That clinched it. Celeste nodded and stood up, holding onto Gabriel as she did.

"Alright, I'll do it." She smiled.

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_Domino City, Japan_

_6:00 a.m. (__Greenwich Mean Time +9 hours)_

_Sunday, June 19th 2005._

The sun was barely beginning to rise over the water out at Domino City Harbor. Most of the people in the city were still fast asleep, but at least one person was awake enough to go fishing at this early hour. He was sitting on a small, hand made raft out in the water, just past the area that the city had claimed for its massive port.

The youth on the raft looked to be about nineteen. He wore a blue vest and shorts, and had a blue headband with an aqua-blue wave pattern on it. His black hair stuck up in spikes, and was tinged with blue highlights. His dark blue eyes scanned over the water, and he turned a spear over in his hand.

"Almost…" He whispered, watching several dark shapes lazily float by in the rising sun.

He pulled back a well tanned, and well muscled, arm. He carefully took aim at the largest shadow.

"Almost…" He breathed, keeping focused on his target.

The shape continued to float by, completely unaware of the fate the young man planned for it.

With out a word, the spear soared into the water, and struck the shape. The fisherman grinned, and pulled the spear back in with a rope that was tied to the end of it. Stuck to the sharp head of the weapon was a large fish, easily the size of chicken.

"Yes!" The successful hunter cheered, "Another excellent catch for…"

He struck a pose, holding the spear and fish over his head.

"Mako Tsunami, man of the sea!" He yelled.

He smiled as he bent down, and unfolded a local newspaper. He smiled as he carefully moved a waterproof box containing a deck of Duel Monster cards away from the paper, and began to roll the freshly caught fish up.

"This will make for the start of a fine breakfast." Mako commented to himself as he set about his task, "As soon as catch a couple more, back to shore, and start a cooking fire…"

As he picked up another page of the paper to finish wrapping the fish, something caught his eye.

From the paper he was rolling up, a single sheet floated loose. With a quick snapping motion with his hand, he grabbed the paper before it hit the water.

"Now what have we here?" He asked, looking at the sheet.

Mako smiled as he saw what was written on it.

He smiled as he looked to the cards on his raft.

"Grand Elemental Tournament eh?" Mako muttered.

His thoughts wandered to the last two tournaments he had been a part of.

In Duelist Kingdom, he'd found himself and his mighty sea serpents face the power of the now King of Games Yugi Mutoh…

In Battle City, he was bested by Yugi's top follower, Joey Wheeler.

In both cases, Mako had been set back enough to be kept from the finals.

After Battle City, he'd gone back to living off the bounty of the sea. Both eating and selling the fish he caught everyday as a means to get by, along with picking multitudes of waste from the water as he did so.

"Maybe this tournament is the chance I've been waiting for." He muttered to himself, "The only other pro I may have to worry about is Mai Valentine, and no one has seen her for a while now…"

Mako nodded, picked up his deck of cards, and held them over his head.

"Very well!" He called out, "I, Mako Tsunami, mighty duelist of the sea, will enter this tournament and win!"

As he made this bold statement, his foot accidentally knocked the fish he had just caught back into the water. Mako gasped and dove for his catch, but came up with nothing but two sheets of wet newspaper.

"But first, I need to catch breakfast." He grumbled as he exchanged his cards for his spear.

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In his cavern home, Needlez was hard at work. He had sent out the invitations less than two hours ago and was now putting the finishing touches on the judges for his little game.

He stepped back from his work, and smiled. In front of him stood a statue that looked like a woman with a pair of graceful wings extending from her back. She was carved wearing a simple dress, and had a peaceful look on her face. A duelist would recognize this monster as Soul of Purity and Light. 

"Perfect, they're all ready." Needlez sighed as he slid a ring with a yellow stone set into it onto the finger of the statue. He looked around at his handy work, admiring the other five statues he had made earlier.

The six carvings were arranged in a circle around Needlez, and each one was unique.

The one to the right of the first statute was another young woman in simple dress. She wore a veil over her face, and her ears seemed to be shaped like fins. Around one of her ankles was a ring of silver with a blue gem, but other than this she was the perfect likeness of an Aqua Spirit.

The next one was male, dressed in a white robe like some manner of wizard. His hair stood straight up, with a silver circlet set at the hairline. A single green crystal sat in the circlet. Clutched in the hand of this statue was a strange fan, as per his identity as Silpheed.

Continuing on, was a frightful creature. This one was female as well, and was dressed in some form of demonic armor. She was bald, with pointed ears and a piercing gaze. She cradled a doll in her arms, and around her neck hung a necklace with a deep-purple gem on it, not common to the Dark Necrofear.

The next in line was a hulking, muscular figure dressed only in a loincloth. A stubby pair of horns extended from over his eyes, and his face was twisted in a permanent scowl. On his left arm was a silver armlet with a red stone in it, granting this Spirit of Flames a unique touch.

The final one was just as well-built as the one before, but dressed in roman battle armor. He carried a staff, and his left wrist sported a gold bracelet with a brown crystal in it, almost straining to fit around the wrist of the Rock Spirit.

Needlez closed his eyes, and held his watch overhead. The stone set in it began to shimmer with a powerful light.

"Oh ye spirits of chaos, heed the command of the divine power and step into these effigies I have created in your images…" Needlez intoned, "Light…"

The first statue glowed with a soft yellow light. The gray stone faded, leaving a woman with silvery skin and wings that were nearly transparent.

"Water…"

The next one was surrounded by a puddle on the floor, which slowly absorbed into the statue. The carving turned blue, as did its clothing, and the woman came to life with a sigh.

"Wind…"

A small breeze gathered around the next statue, and the hair on it turned a pale green. His fan turned gold and his clothes white. Oddly enough his skin turned purple and he spun around and smiled.

"Darkness…"

A black aura surrounded the next one, and the figure's skin turned blue. Her doll's mouth opened with a slack jaw, and the figure herself closed her eyes and let out an eerie laugh.

"Fire…"

Small fires appeared on the fifth statue, and this one turned a blazing red. He snorted like some form of wild beast and glared at the others.

"Earth…"

The last one trembled a bit, and its armor turned to metal rather than stone. It slowly shook its head, like someone who just awoke from a peaceful slumber.

"Serve me, oh creatures of the elemental planes, and perform for me this task." Needlez concluded.

He opened his eyes, and smiled at the six monsters around him.

"Well now, glad ye could all make it." He stated, "I have a wee job for ye."

The six creatures listened with rapt attention.

"I'll be holding a little tournament in a couple days, and I need ye to serve as referees. I want each of yew to take yer powers and create a little gaming ground that fits the…atmosphere of yer elements. Understood?"

"Yes, Lord Needlez." All six said together.

"Good, now git to work!" Needlez commanded.

The six former statues left the room, and Needlez closed his eyes once more. He moved over to his obsidian throne and sat down.

"Pace yerself Needlez." He coached himself, "We'll git through this. That was the hard part, now ye only need to make an elaborate series of magical tunnels leading to practically every corner of the globe…"

He opened his eyes and sighed.

"Who am I kiddin'? This is the hard part." He sighed, "Ah well, no pain no gain!"

Needlez began to concentrate, and the walls of the cavern began to shift…

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_Somewhere in the mountains of Japan_

_10:00 p.m. (__Greenwich Mean Time +9 hours)_

_Sunday, June 26th 2005_

Mako Tsunami breathed a small sigh of relief as he finally emerged from a long tunnel into a spacious cave.

It had seemed odd for a tournament to be held at the address on Mako's poster, seeing as it turned out to be a rather small, run down restaurant. Inside though, he had found a notice posted on one of the walls, stating that all competitors for the tournament were to go to the basement and follow the trail of lights through the tunnels.

Observing the walls of the chamber, Mako let out a low whistle.

"When they say 'underground tournament' they apparently mean it." Mako muttered, looking around.

He wasn't the only person present. At least fifty other people were scattered about, some talking to each other, some looking through their cards, and others just leaning against the walls.

One person in particular seemed to be getting attention. He was a young man, roughly fifteen or sixteen, and was dressed in rather formal attire. He had on a white shirt, dark slacks, and a dark jacket like he had just come from church. His brown hair was well combed, and his build was rather willowy, but he seemed rather full of energy as he spoke to the people around him.

"You all must consider the future of your immortal souls." He spoke in a clear, practiced manner, "The Kingdom of the Heavens will only be open to those who accept the love and light of the one and only God…"

Mako noted that roughly half of the people the boy was talking to didn't seem to be listening, while the other half seemed to only be half-listening. The young man obviously realized he was losing his audience, and cast his gaze around. It landed on Mako, and he smiled.

"You there sir! Have you ever considered the fate of your soul?" The boy asked, shoving his way past the uninterested congregation.

"Um…" Mako began, confused about this approach and by the fact that the boy was speaking very quickly in fluent English.

Mako's travels allowed him a brief interlude into learning new languages, but he wasn't fluent with a few. English was one of them, and the boy obviously saw this.

"Oh, sorry you don't understand." He said in English again, slower, "Um, what language _do_ you speak?"

"Most-ry Japanese." Mako said, practicing his rusty English skills.

"Then it's your lucky day…" The boy said, speaking clear Japanese, "I happen to have taken a few Japanese lessons myself."

"You don't say…" Mako said.

"Yes, my name is John Peter." The boy said, extending his hand.

"I'm Mako Tsuanami." Said Mako, accepting the handshake.

"Wow, the famous ocean duelist? A pleasure to meet you." John gushed, "Tell me, have you ever given any thought to religion?"

"What?" Mako asked.

"The fate of your soul rests in your deeds on Earth." John smiled, breaking off the handshake, "Don't tell me you haven't accepted the love of God into your life."

John launched into another sermon, and Mako immediately regretted stopping to make a new friend.

"_Okay, I better get a chance to shut this guy up in the tournament…"_ Mako thought, not seeing a new trio of figures enter from the other side of the room.

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Brian and Tim, much like Mako, had wondered at why a tournament would be held in a run-down office building. After following the lights for ten minutes, they had now entered the cave and were looking around.

"Hm…It's oddly warm in here." Brian noted, "Isn't it raining outside? And unseasonably cold?"

"Must be all the other people in here." Tim pointed out, "Now come on, we've got card games to play!"

"Excuse me…" Said a voice behind them.

Brian and Tim turned around, and found themselves confronted by Celeste Hikari. She was wearing a yellow sundress now, having decided to dress up a bit for the tournament, and her hair was let down almost to her knees.

"This is the Grand Elemental Tournament, right?" She asked.

"We think so." Brian nodded, "And you are?"

"Celeste Hikari." Celeste said, extending a hand.

Brian didn't shake it, but he and Tim both struck a silly-looking pose.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Brian Hokage." Brian said.

"And I'm Tim Hokage." Tim intoned, "And together we are…"

"The Amazing Dueling Hokage Brothers!" They shouted together.

Celeste burst laughing at this ridiculous display, and Brian and Tim both enjoyed a good laugh about it too. Still laughing, the trio made their way further into the chamber.

Off to the side, another pair entered.

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Mr. Gold strode in, with Zeffie taking her usual spot on his shoulder.

"Told you it was down here." Zeffie grinned.

"Eh, you were right Zef." Gold nodded, letting her down, "And here I thought that old gas station was just a joke or something."

Zeffie was gazing excitedly around at the other competitors as more wandered into the cave from several entrances.

"Wow, look at all the duelists!" Zeffie cheered, running toward the crowd.

"Hey Zefs, wait up!" Gold shouted, starting after her.

Zeffie was giggling as she ran ahead of her babysitter, and didn't stop until she accidentally collided with a larger figure.

Mako, who had found some of his English skills coming back to him during his little 'chat' with John, welcomed the distraction from the preacher's ramblings. He looked down at the girl who had run into him and was now picking herself up.

"Oops…" She giggled, "Sorry."

"That's alright." Mako smiled, causing John to stop talking as he realized he was being ignored again, "Are you okay?"

"Zeffie is fine." Zeffie smiled, "Zeffie's name is Zeffie Gale, nice to meet you!"

"Hello, I'm Mako Tsunami." Mako said with a smile.

"And I'm Mr. Gold." Said a gruffer voice, drawing Mako's attention to the giant of a man that now stood behind his new conversation partner (John had wandered off to find someone who was willing to listen).

"Oh…Hello." Mako smiled.

"Don't worry Goldie, Zeffie's fine!" Zeffie smiled, "Didn't hurt a bit."

"Well, don't just run off like that." Gold said, "We have to stick together down here, remember that."

"You got it!" Zeffie said, flashing a thumbs up.

Gold looked to Mako.

"So, Mako was it, thanks to finding Zeffie for me." Gold said.

"No problem." Mako smiled, "Be careful with her though, she seems kind of…"

"Energetic? She's always like that." Gold said.

Before the conversation went any further though, another trio of duelists came up. It was Brian, Tim, and Celeste, and Brian had his new Duel Disk armed and ready.

"Hey, some preacher kid said Mako Tsunami was over here." Brian said, looking toward Mako, "And wouldn't you know it, he was right."

"Looking for a duel?" Mako guessed, seeing the disk.

"You bet, not everyday you get to take on a professional duelist." Brian smiled.

"Shouldn't you wait for the tournament to start?" Celeste asked.

"Oh come on." Tim smiled, "This won't take long anyway."

Dropping his voice, he leaned closer to Celeste.

"Besides, I've got ten bucks saying Mako wins." He whispered.

"I heard that." Brian said, turning to his snickering brother.

"Attention Duelists!" A voice boomed out, "Glad ye could all make it!"

All conversations ceased, as out of one of the tunnels strode Needlez, dressed in his gray suit. He looked across the crowd and smiled.

"So many talented duelists I can see here today. All of ye underestimated in one way or another." He stated, "Well now it's yer time to shine. I am known simply as Needlez, and you are all welcome to my Grand Elemental Tournament!"

Several cheers rose from the crowd, and Needlez waved for silence.

"Now then, the construct of the tournament is surprisingly simple." Needlez explained, "Ye shall be divided into groups, according to the element yew wield in yer deck. Therefore, we shall have six finalists. They will compete in a special match for the title of champion. Simple enough, aye?"

Murmurs spread through the audience, and Needlez once again waved for quiet.

"Now then, let's not waste a lot of time. After all, we have six tournaments to get through. If each of ye could simply go through the door that's been marked with the elemental yew use: Black for darkness, yellow for light, green is wind, brown is earth, blue is water, and red is fire."

As he spoke, light appeared over six tunnels that no one had come in through, each tunnel lit by one of the named colors.

"Inside ye shall find the tournament referee, and a box of rental Duel Disks. Don't break 'em or I lose my deposit." Needlez advised, "Other than that, have fun everybody. I'll see ye all from the winner's circle. Best of luck!"

With that, Needlez waved them off toward the doors. The crowd began to file toward them, with the group of six hanging together for another moment.

"So where are you all going?" Celeste asked, looking toward the yellow tunnel that John Peter was entering "I'm in the light duel I guess."

"Darkness for me." Brian stated.

"I'm fire." Tim nodded, "Good luck bro."

"You too." Brian smiled.

"Wind!" Zeffie cheered.

"You be careful Zeffie, just talk to the judge if you need me, okay?" Gold advised, "Tell him I'm in the earth tournament."

"Okie-dokie." Zeffie nodded.

"I'm water of course." Mako said.

"Funny, we each ended up in a different tournament." Celeste said as they started toward the caves.

"Needlez was kind of funny, that was a brief intro." Brian said.

"Short and to the point, what's not to like?" Tim asked, "I can't take it when we have to talk to the tournament manager for an hour before we start!"

"Well, best of luck to all of you." Mako said, heading for his tunnel.

The others all called out good luck whishes to one another, before vanishing into their caves.

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Sitting in his throne, Needlez watched as six orbs appeared in front of him, each one showing one of the tournaments.

"Very soon, I'll have my army." Needlez said, "It will be small, but it'll be the best…"

_**Very soon, I would have the ones that would betray me, but as I said that's not this story.**_

_**You probably wish to see whom Mako had to duel. Well her strategy was quite interesting. **_

_**It certainly caught him off-guard. I don't he expected such powerful creatures from that girl…**_

_**I titled this duel**_

_**Swamp Battleguard**_

_**There's no mercy for those who miss the next chapter.**_


	2. Swamp Battleguard

_**When it came to the Duelist of Water, I hit the proverbial jackpot.**_

_**I wound up recruiting one Mako Tsunami, a professional level duelist who had been in tournaments with some of my targets before.**_

**_It wasn't until later that I learned that corrupting his deck to counter Mai Valentine's was the worst error I could have made. But still, he was pathetic about losing._**

_**When I look at who I could have wound up with though…**_

_**I might have dodged a bullet on that one.**_

Swamp Battleguard

The tournament was reaching its final few rounds. With relatively few duelists in each of the six sections of it (barely ten in each) there had been little competition for those with more experience or better cards.

Needlez had been watching every last duel, taking interest in some of the duelists. While he'd expected good things of some of the duelists Mako had been cleaning up in the water tournament. Brian and Tim Hokage were trampling down the duelists that stood in their way, securing a place in the finals, the same with Gold and Zeffie. Celeste seemed to have a bit of practice at this level before, her first opponent barely getting six moves before she did him in.

Of course, it was when he was watching other competitors that he began to get worried. Some of them were good, but at no where near the level he wanted to see.

Needlez was seated in his throne, watching the aftermath of the last duel. He sighed as he flicked his watch, bringing the image of his Aqua Spirit servant

"Yew better have good news for me." He growled, "That was the last annoying duel I want to see today…"

"Oh I have most excellent news sir." Aqua Spirit smiled, "Our finalists have been selected, and one of them is the great Mako Tsunami!"

"Who?" Needlez asked.

"He's a professional duelist, sir. He's been in several major tournaments." Aqua answered.

"Has he ranked high in the standings?" Needlez asked.

"Never too high sir." Aqau responded, looking a touch worried, "He's never shared a finalist position with any of our targets."

"That's excellent. Allow the finals of the water tournament to start." Needlez smiled, "I need a bit of entertainment."

----------------------------------------------------------------

In the Water Tournament cavern, a large pool of clear water sat in the center. In the center of this was a fair sized platform, large enough to hold two duelists and their monsters. At the moment, it was unoccupied, all of the duelists were gathered around the edge of the pool.

The crowd parted, allowing Aqua Spirit through. She walked through the pool (it was about ankle deep) and stepped onto the platform.

"Okay, thank you all for coming today ladies and gentlemen." She stated, waving to the audience, "It's time now for our finals match. This one decides who the true master of water monsters is!"

Sitting on the sidelines, Mako smiled as he adjusted his duel disk.

"_I already know it's me."_ He thought with a grin, _"I blew away my last opponent with nothing stronger than my Creeping Doom Manta. These water duelists aren't as tough as I hoped they would be."_

"So, here's the first finalist: Mako Tsunami the Ocean Duelist!" Aqua announced.

The crowd parted once more, allowing Mako through. He sloshed through the pool, and stepped onto the platform. Readying his disk, he looked around.

"So who's my opponent? I was in the bathroom during the last match of the semi-finals." He confessed.

Aqua smiled, and gestured to the audience.

"Our second finalist is Tabitha Kingsly!" She called out.

"THAT'S RIBBITA TO YOU!" A voice called out.

Mako watched as a girl, about fourteen years old, stepped into the pool. She was an interesting sight: Nothing about her figure was very striking, nor her brown hair or eyes, but rather her clothing. She wore a green t-shirt with a smiling frog on the front, and a pair of green shorts with a frog stitched on either leg. Several key chains shaped like a variety of frogs hung from the belt loops on her shorts, and she even wore a hair clip and earrings that resembled frogs.

Mako arched an eyebrow at this sight as the girl stepped up in front of him.

"_Okay…Frogs…Lots of frogs…" _He thought.

Ribbita smiled and giggled a little bit as she waved to Mako.

"I…Can't believe that I'm actually getting to duel you." She said shyly, "You're a major inspiration to water duelists every where."

Mako seemed a bit taken by this.

"Well, that's very flattering." He said, "I didn't' realize I had any fans."

"Oh most of them do cheer for Yugi." Ribbita said, "But I know a bunch of folks who were cheering you on in Battle City, especially when you dueled Joey."

Ribbita twisted her hair in her fingers a bit and smiled again.

"And…I always thought you cute…" She confessed.

"Cute enough for you to just throw the match?" Mako smirked.

"Oh…No!" Ribbita responded, looking shocked.

"Good!" Mako smiled, "I'd hate to think that one of my fans would lose to me, just because they thought I should win."

He raised his disk, and smiled.

"Now let's start the duel!"

"Take your marks!" Aqua shouted, raising one arm.

Ribbita turned her disk on, and smiled.

"Begin!" Aqua ordered.

**Ribbita: 8000**

**Mako: 8000**

Both players drew five cards, and Mako smiled.

"You take the first move." He offered.

"Okay." Ribbita nodded as she drew.

She placed one card onto her disk, and it appeared facedown in front of her.

"I open with a facedown monster." She stated, "Go on Mako."

Mako drew, and looked at his cards. He smiled as he selected one and put it on the field.

"Okay, I open with my Giant Red Seasnake (1800/800)." He announced.

Out of the water behind Mako emerged a ten-foot long serpent covered with red scales and blue stripes. It opened a mouth full of sharp, yellow teeth and growled.

"Attack her facedown monster with deep-sea bite!" Mako ordered.

The snake lunged forward, and snapped its jaws through the facedown card. The card flipped to reveal a brown frog with tiny wings, before the image shattered and the card went to the graveyard.

"That was easy. I'll set one card facedown and end my turn." Mako stated, sliding another card into play.

The facedown appeared as Ribbita drew. She smiled as a card suddenly emerged from her graveyard.

"Well Mako, you beat my Treeborn Frog no problem, but that activates his special ability." She stated, taking the card and putting it on her disk.

In front of her appeared the winged from again, crouched low to the ground as though it were preparing for an attack (100/100).

"Wait, I just destroyed that monster!" Mako protested.

"Exactly! If Treeborn Frog is in my graveyard, and I have no spells or traps on the field and no other copies of him, I can summon him back during my standby phase." Ribbita smiled, "He makes a handy defensive wall.'

She took another card from her hand, and placed it onto her disk.

"Now I'll set this monster facedown, and end my turn." She stated.

Another monster appeared next to the Treeborn Frog as Mako drew.

"This is going to get annoying fast." He muttered, looking at his new card, "Well this should help."

Speaking louder now, he put another card into play.

"I summon 7 Colored Fish (1800/800) in attack mode!" He announced.

Out of the water came another monster, this one a large fish whose scales were shimmering with every color of the rainbow (including indigo).

"Okay guys, you know what to do!" Mako shouted.

The Seasnake jumped forward again, and swallowed Treeborn Frog whole. 7 Colored Fish slammed its tale against the facedown card, revealing a large, black, blobby creature with a tail. It was covered with red markings, which flashed right before it disappeared.

"Oops, that one was my T.A.D.P.O.L.E. (0/0)." Ribbita smiled, pulling her deck out, "When you destroy that monster, I immediately add another copy of it to my hand."

She held up another one of the cards for Mako to see, before reshuffling her deck and returning it to its slot.

"Okay, my turn is over." Mako stated, "Make your move."

"Gladly." Ribbita smiled as she drew, "And I'll start with the return of a familiar face."

Treeborn From popped onto the field, and Giant Red Seasnake gave his former meal a confused stare.

"And next, another mystery facedown monster." Ribbita stated, sliding a card onto her disk.

The facedown card appeared, and Ribbita gestured to Mako. Mako drew, and put down another card.

"Okay, you can only save yourself from two attacks with those monsters." Mako stated, "Let's see how you handle a third. I summon my Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness (1800/1500)!"

A third splash from the pool signaled the emergence of Mako's third monster. This one was humanoid, covered in purple and black scales and carrying a golden trident. He pointed his weapon toward Ribbita, and tapped it on the ground.

"Now then, let's clean up." Mako declared, "Seasnake…"

The red serpent lunged again, devouring the helpless frog in a single gulp once more.

"Fish…"

Repeating its performance from last time, 7 Colored Fish slammed the facedown T.A.D.P.O.L.E. into non-existence.

"And now, direct attack!" Mako ordered.

The Warrior of Darkness seemed eager to please as he jumped forward. He swept his spear in a wide arc, slicing Ribbita across the chest with it. She screamed and fell onto her behind in shock.

"Ooooh…That hurt." She moaned, her life points dipping.

**Ribbita: 6200**

**Mako: 8000**

"_This is sorry show indeed."_ Mako lamented, _"Even if she summoned something stronger than my monsters, my Bottomless Trap Hole card will wipe it off the map."_

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Needlez was just as unimpressed as Mako.

"How did she get into the finals? Did her opponents laugh themselves into submission?" He wondered.

Sighing, he leaned back in his throne.

"Ah well, I did want Mako to win anyway." He stated.

----------------------------------------------------

Ribbita got back to her feet, and took her deck from its slot.

"Okay, you destroyed another T.A.D.P.O.L.E. so I can fetch my third one." Ribbita stated, pulling the card out.

"_Third _one?" Mako asked, looking at the card, "That monster is pointless."

"Don't be so sure." Ribbita grinned, "Is it my turn?"

Mako nodded and Ribbita drew. Once more, Treeborn Frog hopped onto the field in defense mode.

"Good, the kid gloves come off right now." She smiled, "I'll start with my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card!"

A blast of wind shot from her spell, and obliterated Mako's Bottomless Trap Hole. Mako gave his opponent a strange look…She seemed much more serious now.

"Next, I'll get rid of Treeborn Frog myself." She continued, removing the card from her disk, "I tribute him to summon my Des Frog (1900/0)!"

Treeborn Frog vanished, and out of the waters leapt another frog. This one was much bigger, easily the size of a border collie, and was a slimy green color.

"And he doesn't come to the party alone. For each T.A.D.P.O.L.E. in my graveyard, he'll summon another Des Frog from my deck!" Ribbita continued.

Two more splashes, and two frogs identical to the first emerged from the water. They began to croak in chorus, all of them looking happy to be together. Ribbita smiled as she opened her field slot.

"Aren't they cute? And they'll only get cuter once I play my field spell: The Enchanted Swampland!" Ribbita declared.

Sliding a card into play, the ground began to warp. Mako gasped as the platform turned into a large lily pad sitting in the middle of a pool of green water. Clumps of algae floated around them, and the frogs all began to croak louder.

"What is this place?" Mako asked.

"This is the swamp my frogs live in." Ribbita smiled, "So they get the home-field advantage and an extra 200 attack and defense points."

All three Des Frogs (2100/200) croaked in harmony, bouncing up down on the battlefield.

"Plus, if you destroy any monster with the word 'frog' in its title in battle, it goes back to my deck instead of the graveyard." Ribbita explained, "And now, while I could just plow through your monsters, I think I'll take the direct route with this spell card."

Ribbita placed another card into her disk, and all three of her frogs opened their mouths wide. Sound waves, so powerful that the air began to ripple, shot out from the frogs, and Mako and his monsters all screamed. Mako covered his ears, and widened his eyes as his three monsters burst into shards. The noise died down, and Mako gulped.

"What have you done?" He shouted.

"I played my Des Croaking card." Ribbita explained, "It only works if I have three Des Frogs on the field, and then it destroys every card on yours."

"Oh crud…" Mako gasped as Ribbita pointed right at him.

"Attack with clamorous croaking!" Ribbita ordered.

All three of her frogs opened wide again, unleashing another hail of croaks. Mako (and several audience members) fell to the ground in pain as the vibrations of the sound tore through the water duelist!

**Ribbita: 6200**

**Mako: 1700**

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Needlez was watching this turn of events, his eyes quite wide.

"In one move, the girl clears the field and brings her opponent to less than a quarter of his life points." He nodded, "Impressive, quite impressive! Go to Hell Mako Tsunami, Ribbita is my girl now!"

Laughing, he settled himself down to what was sure to be a short duel now.

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Mako slowly got up, trembling a bit from the aftershock of the attacks.

"Oh, are you alright?" Ribbita shouted.

"I will be as soon my ears stop ringing…" Mako said, holding his head.

"_Okay, let's look at the situation." _He thought, _"She has three monsters on the field, all of which are more than strong enough to finish me off. I have nothing on the field, and four cards in my hand. If she draws another Des Croaking before I get rid of at least one of those frogs, I'm sunk!"_

Mako drew, and saw the card he now held. He shrugged, and put it into his disk.

"Seeing as I don't have much choice, I play Graceful Charity." He declared.

The pond was illuminated by a white glow, and from above fell a heavenly maiden with white wings. She smiled as she brushed a hand over Mako's deck, which began to glow with the same light. He drew three cards, looked over them for a minute, and smiled as he placed two into his graveyard. The angel vanished as Mako held up another card.

"Now I'll use Premature Burial to resurrect a creature I just discarded." Mako announced, "Rise from the depths my Levia Dragon-Daedelus (2600/1500)!"

A patch of water nearby began to glow with a strange, red light. From this water burst the head of what must have been a colossal monster. The head seemed draconic in nature, covered in blue scales and sharp looking fins. Ribbita gulped at the sight of this monster as it growled at her frogs.

"Attack one of those frogs my dragon!" Mako ordered, "Deep sea snack attack!"

The monster roared a fearsome roar, and snapped its head forward toward the center frog. The frightened amphibian quickly leapt from the lily pad, only to be snatched out of mid-air by the beast. It began to croak wildly as it was pulled under water, with only a patch of bubbles to mark its passing.

"Don't forget, my field spell will let that monster return to my deck now!" Ribbita warned.

A ghostly white frog floated out of the water, and leapt on top of Ribbita's deck. It glowed for a minute as Ribbita took the destroyed frog's card and shuffled it into her remaining ones.

"Maybe, but you still take damage from the battle." Mako smiled.

"I'm still way ahead of you." Ribbita pointed out.

"Are you?" Mako asked, putting two more cards into his disk, "Let me show you a neat little trick we professionals use. I set two more cards facedown…"

The two cards appeared in front of Mako, who turned another of his remaining cards around.

"Only to sacrifice them to my Emergency Provisions, along with Premature Burial!" He continued.

"But if you do that, you'll lose Daedelus." Ribbita pointed out.

"Not true." Mako smiled, "Premature Burial has to be 'destroyed' before it will destroy the monster it's attached to. Emergency Provisions 'sends it to the graveyard.' Like it or not, there's a difference, the official rules from Industrial Illusions say that Daedelus will survive!"

A disembodied mouth appeared next to Mako, and it quickly crunched through the facedown cards. Apparently thirsty after the snack, it proceeded to slurp up the red water that Daedelus was floating in, much to the ocean dragon's delight. A shower of sparks fell over Mako, who smiled as his life points were boosted.

Ribbita: 5700

Mako: 3900

"Go ahead Ribbita." Mako smiled.

Ribbita drew, looking a bit worried now.

"I'll set another monster in defense mode," Ribbita continued, a facedown monster appearing, "And I'll switch my two remaining Des Frog into defense as well."

The two frogs on the field sank low to the ground, and fell silent.

"That's all for my turn." Ribbita sighed.

Mako drew, and smiled as he turned one of his remaining cards around.

"Trick number two, never empty your hand unless you're desperate or have a way to refresh it." Mako smiled, "I activate my Card of Sanctity, so we each draw until we hold six cards!"

Mako drew five times, while Ribbita only took two. He quickly slapped down another card, and the water nearby started to churn.

"Now to summon a creature that's a fusion of man and shark." Mako declared, "I summon my Great White (1600/800)!"

Out of the frothing water emerged the top-half of a shark. It was covered in blue and white scales, and had human arms extending from its torso. It was indeed a man-shark fusion, and it did not seem the least bit happy in the swamp water.

"Now let's get rid of those other two frogs of yours!" Mako ordered, "Attack her Des Frogs!"

Great White pulled back one arm, and razor sharp fin extended from it. It swung the fin like a sword, generating a scythe of blue energy that sliced one of the frogs into a side dish. The last frog discovered the fate of its brother, as it let out a frightened croak before being devoured by Daedelus.

As before, two more frog ghosts hopped onto Ribbita's disk, allowing her to shuffle their cards into her deck.

"Now I'll set one more card facedown and end my turn." Mako declared, sliding another card into place.

It appeared facedown, and Ribbita nervously drew. She swore mentally as she saw no Des Frogs in her current hand.

"_Crud…_" She thought, struggling to come up with a plan. Unfortunately, she had none. This was the worst possible hand she could have held at the moment

"_My last T.A.D.P.O.L.E. is completely pointless, the other two are already in my graveyard. Unless I draw one of my Des Frogs and another Des Croaking I've had it…"_

Sighing, she set a card onto her disk. It appeared facedown behind her hidden monster.

"I'll set this facedown and end my turn." She sighed.

Mako drew, and as he did Ribbita waved a hand over her hidden card.

"I activate Hallowed Life Barrier!" She shouted, a dome of blue energy surrounding her, "Now by discarding a card…"

She swiftly plucked a high-level monster from her hand and shoved it into her graveyard.

"You can't damage my life points this turn." She finished.

"But your monsters are a different story." Mako declared, "Daedelus, get that facedown monster!"

Daedelus shot forward once more, and the hiding monster finally turned over. It was a blob of green muck with a frog-like face on its front. It let out a horrible croak before becoming lunch.

"Um…" Mako muttered, staring at the spot the goo once sat.

"That was Frog the Jam (900/700)." Ribbita explained as she shuffled the card back into her deck, "He was one of my first frog monsters."

"I see." Mako nodded, "Well, my turn is over seeing as I can't hurt your life points."

Ribbita nodded, and drew. A gasp escaped her lips as she slammed her card into the disk so hard that it almost bent.

"I activate the spell known as Plague of Frogs!" She shouted.

Mako gave the card a confused look, and then gasped as several 'ribbits' began to sound out from around him.

"Now this spell card…" Ribbita began.

"Won't do a thing." Mako interrupted, "I activate Magic Drain, which negates your card's effect!"

Mako's facedown card lifted, and a frightening specter began to swoop overhead. Ribbita responded by jamming another card (Des Croaking) into her graveyard. An image of the card appeared, and the specter grabbed hold of it before vanishing. Out of the water leapt several small frogs, croaking incessantly and hopping up onto the border of the lily-pad platform.

"What the…" Mako started to ask.

"Your trap will only work if I can't discard a spell from my hand when you activate it." Ribbita explained, "I could, so now my Plague of Frogs can continue. It lets me discard any number of cards from my hand, and then replace them with cards from my deck. The catch is the cards I get need to have the word frog in their title."

Ribbita dropped her last T.A.D.P.O.L.E., and monster titled 'Beelze Frog', and another Frog the Jam from her hand. She then took her deck, and searched through it, smiling as she produced her three Des Frog once again.

"What about sacrifices?" Mako challenged, "Des Frog kind of needs them."

"I didn't intend to summon them." Ribbita smiled, holding up her fourth card: Polymeriztion.

"I intend to fuse them!" She shouted, "Go my Des Frogs!"

A whirling vortex appeared overhead, causing the small frogs to croak louder. The three Des Frogs appeared on the field for a moment, only to be drawn inside of the vortex. A single, loud croak, louder than any from before, echoed from overhead.

"Say hello to the king of the frogs: D.3.S. Frog (2500/2000)!" Ribbita shouted.

From the vortex emerged a truly massive frog. It was the size of a small house, and looked as though it could be more closely related to a toad than a frog. It let out a resounding croak, which was answered by the frogs around it.

"He's not strong enough to beat Daedelus!" Mako shouted.

"Oh no? I'd look again Mako." Ribbita challenged, "First off, he is a frog, so my field gives him 200 extra attack and defense. And his own effect gives him 500 attack for each copy of Treeborn Frog in my graveyard. Add it all up, and you have my ultimate monster!"

The massive frog began to shimmer with a muddy-green aura as its attack boosted to (3200/2200). Mako let out an audible gulp as Ribbita pointed at his field.

"Destroy Levia Dragon Daedelus!" She called out, "Resounding Ribbit!"

A huge croak emanated from the frog's mouth, and shattered Daedelus in a single blow. Mako shouted in surprise as his life points took a dip, and he almost followed them due to the backlash of the blow.

Ribbita: 5700

Mako: 3300

"It's your move Mako." Ribbita smiled.

Mako drew, and looked at the card he held. He stared up at the massive frog, and thought for a minute.

"_Well, I'll need this if she summons anything else. It's the only way to buy myself anytime."_ He thought, setting the card into his disk.

"I'm setting this facedown, and moving Great White to defense mode." Mako stated, his shark-man sinking down so its arms were covered, "That's my turn."

Ribbita drew, and a huge grin crossed her face.

"I'm launching right into my battle-phase." She declared, "D.3.S. Frog, get that shark!"

The enormous amphibian unleashed another blast of its sonic attack, and Mako's shark was flung from the water and dashed against the wall behind him. Ribbita held up the only card in her hand with a triumphant grin.

"Now I'll wrap this up with my De-Fusion card." She declared, "It will return D.3.S. Frog to my fusion deck, and summon back the three Des Frogs I used to create him!"

The giant toad let out a final croak as it turned into an orb of green light. The one orb split into three, which floated to the ground and transformed into the three Des Frogs (2100/200).

Mako, quicker than man was ever meant to move, slammed a button on his disk with a grin on _his _face.

"I was expecting you to summon something, but this even better than I hoped!" He shouted, "Go Torrential Tribute!"

The facedown card lifted, and a blast of water consumed the field. The trio of amphibians croaked in fear as the water consumed them, washing them away into the distance before they shattered. Ribbita seemed to close to a heart attack at the sight of this, and fell to her knees in disbelief.

"Sorry Ribbita." Mako apologized, "But Torrential Tribute activates when you summon a monster, then destroys all the monsters on the field."

"I don't…all three…" Ribbita stammered, "Nobody has ever gotten rid of all three of my Des Frogs at once like that. Mako…You…"

Ribbita looked up, her eyes shining with admiration.

"Really are the best duelist I've had the honor of facing!" She cried out.

Mako blinked in surprise (He'd been expecting anger as opposed to admiration), and just chuckled good-naturedly.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmph…I expected her to be angry as all Hell." Needlez commented, stretching a little once again, "Argh…Damn Arthritis. I hate getting old. I've done it at least fifty times now and it never gets easier."

He stood up, and began to pace around the image of the duel, keeping a close eye on it as he worked his stiff knee.

"Ah well, looks like Mako, my soon-to-be Duelist of Water, will have this all wrapped up soon." He smiled, "Just as I thought he would."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Seeing as Ribbita had no moves that she could conceivably make, Mako drew a card for his turn.

"Okay, this is the best shot I can make right now." Mako said, placing down another monster, "I summon my Flying Fish in attack mode (800/500)."

From the waters emerged a fish covered with pink scales and white fins. It hovered in front of Mako, and bared a mouth filled with sharp teeth.

"Attack with soaring bite!" Mako ordered.

The fish seemingly 'swam' right toward Ribbita, who howled in pain as the creature chomped onto her arm. It released her, and she quickly nursed the sore spot.

"Ouch…" She moaned, "That hurt."

Ribbita: 4900

Mako: 3300

"Your move Ribbita." Mako invited.

Ribbita drew, and held up the card.

"Guess I'll have to use my Pot of Greed." She stated, pulling two cards from her disk.

Seeing the cards, her eyes went wide. She smiled as she placed one of the cards into her disk.

"And now I activate the spell card Living Frog." She announced, "The names is bit misleading though, it lets me discard one creature of water to summon another one from my graveyard."

Ribbita held up a copy of Mother Grizzly, which she placed into the cemetery slot.

"What are you trying to bring back?" Mako asked, "I got rid of your trump cards. Even if you brought one back, it wouldn't help."

"True, but I had something else in mind." Ribbita smiled, "I've got another Ace in the hole. You see my deck had a severe lack of good kill cards, you know powerful monsters that can finish the duel. Since only one real frog existed in that territory, I had to accept the fact, and include a reptile…One that I discarded when I played Hallowed Life Barrier."

The water behind her exploded upward, and out of it emerged a terrifying new figure. It was at least thirty-feet tall, and seemed to be a humanoid alligator with red scales and metal enhancements all over its body. It let out a growl as it glared at Mako.

"Meet Gogiga Gagagigo (2950/2800)!" Ribbita called out, "Boy that's a mouthful."

"Oh boy…" Mako said, bracing for impact.

"Attack with cybernetic reptile claw!" Ribbita ordered.

The massive gator-man swooped down, and gutted Mako's Flying Fish with a single swipe. Mako screamed as his life points began to plummet due to the death of his monster.

Ribbita: 4900

Mako: 1150

"Sorry Mako, but it looks like I'm about to win this duel." Ribbita declared.

Mako drew his card, and looked at for a minute.

"_This might just work._" He thought.

"I'm going to start this turn by replacing your swamp with a field of my own." Mako declared, "Go, Legendary Ocean!"

Mako swung his field slot open, and slid a card into place. The swamp land around the two shattered, and was replaced by water that was waist deep. A shimmering marble palace rose from the water behind Mako, who breathed a sigh of relief as virtual ocean air ruffled through his hair.

"That feels better." He commented.

"Especially since your spell only helped my monster." Ribbita announced, "Don't forget, he's a Water monster, and gains 200 attack and defense from your card."

Gogiga Gagagigo (3150/3000) let out a hollow sounding chuckle at Mako's blunder. It crouched low, waiting for a chance to strike.

"We'll see." Mako stated, placing two cards into his disk, "I'm setting these facedown and ending my turn."

The two cards appeared, floating on the surface of the water. Ribbita drew, and turned around the card she now held.

"Must be my lucky day, I just drew one of my Beelze Frogs (1200/800)." Ribbita declared, placing the monster onto her disk.

Out of the water emerged a black frog covered in red marks. A pair of bat-like wings protruded from its back, and it let out a happy croak at being in the water.

"Even if you stop or redirect one of their attacks, the other can win this for me." Ribbita said, her hands trembling, "Beelze Frog doesn't just get the bonus from your field, he also gains 300 attack for each T.A.D.P.O.L.E. that's in my graveyard. Since I have three…"

The duel disk beat her to it. Beelze Frog (2300/800) began to glow with red light from the energy of the fallen monsters. Ribbita pointed right at Mako with a grin.

"Attack Mako directly my scaly friends!' Ribbita shouted.

"I activate Tornado Wall!" Mako countered, one of his cards lifting up.

A strong wind blew across the ocean, and several tornados form around Mako. He smiled as the water of the ocean was drawn up into a series of water spouts that gathered around him and repelled both of Ribbita's monsters.

"This trap keeps me from taking any damage, as long as the field is called 'Umi.'" Mako explained, "My Legendary Ocean makes that so, so you can't touch me."

"I'll end my turn then." Ribbita sighed.

Mako drew, and pointed to his facedown card.

"Now, I activate my Call of the Haunted to revive Levia Dragon Daedelus (2800/1700)." Mako announced.

A purple mist extended over the ocean, and from the depth rose Mako's monstrous sea-serpent once more. This time more of its body was visible over the water. It was at least forty-feet long, and as big around as a school bus. It roared as Mako opened up his field slot and removed his card.

"And now for his special ability: By sacrificing a card named 'Umi' I can destroy everything on the field aside from Daedelus!" Mako shouted, "Of course, since he's tied to my Call of the Haunted he'll die anyway, but he'll take care of your monsters!"

Daedelus let out a massive roar, and the oceans heeded the call. The water swelled into massive waves, soaking both duelists to the bone they crashed about. In one mighty splash, everything on the field was gone. Mako and Ribbita now stood on the platform, surrounded by the shallow pool, and Ribbita, for the second time that duel, seemed close to tears as Mako put down another card.

"Of course, I still get my normal summon for the turn." He declared, "So I'll call in Unshaven Angler (1500/1600)."

From the water emerged a glowing fish with a huge mouth and, oddly enough, a trail of white whiskers extending from its lower jaw.

"Attack!" Mako ordered.

Ribbita shrieked in pain again as the fish grabbed her shoulder in its sharp teeth and bit down hard. Ribbita batted it away and clutched at the fresh attack site.

Ribbita: 3400

Mako: 1150

"Your turn Ribbita." Mako declared.

Ribbita drew, and sighed as she saw her third copy of Des Croaking.

"_I can't even bluff with this."_ She lamented.

"Go ahead Mako, finish it." Ribbita said, spreading her arms.

Mako drew, and smiled as he opened his field slot once again.

"Okay Ribbita, I'll give you the honor of falling to my favorite monster card." Mako declared, "It starts with my second copy of Legendary Ocean."

The water level rose again, along with the silver palace. Mako smiled as he placed another card onto his disk.

"And now I summon the protector of this great sea: Legendary Fisherman (1850/1600)!" Mako shouted.

From the water rose what looked like Mako without his vest. The monster was the spitting image of his duelist, with wilder hair and riding on a large shark. He hefted a spear in one hand, and smiled.

"Thanks to my field spell, he was only level four in my hand." Mako explained, "But now that he's been summoned he's unaffected by any spell cards as long as the field is under the influence of Umi. Of course, that means it doesn't power him up, but it works like a charm on my Unshaven Angler (1700/1800)."

Indeed, the whiskered angler fish was swimming alongside the man, splashing happily.

"Attack her directly, angler jaw!" Mako ordered.

The fish swam forward, and bit down on Ribbita's hip. She clutched it and groaned in pain.

"And now, hunter's spear!" Mako shouted.

His favorite monster reared back his arm, and cast his weapon out. Ribbita screamed as it struck her in the chest, and fell backwards as the water returned to its normal depth around them.

Ribbita: 0

Mako: 1150

"_Whew, maybe I shouldn't have underestimated her._" Mako thought, wiping some sweat from his brow as Ribbita got up.

"Oh…" She groaned, "Mako, that was an amazing duel."

"Glad you enjoyed it, you did very well." Mako smiled.

Ribbita blushed, and almost fell over again. Mako smiled as she walked back into the water and stepped into the group of remaining duelists.

Aqua Spirit stepped up, and raised Mako's hand over his head.

"I give you our champion: Mako Tsunami, the now official Elemental Duelist of Water!" She announced.

The duelists cheered as Aqua Spirit pointed to a tunnel at the back of the cavern.

"Through that tunnel lies the championship area Mako." She explained, "Go, and best of luck to you."

Mako nodded, and waved farewell to the other water duelists as he headed down the tunnel.

------------------------------------------

Needlez nodded as he shut off the image from Aqua Spirit.

"That settles it, Mako is my duelist of water." He stated, "Just as I knew he would be."

He waved one hand, and the other five pictures moved forward once more.

"Now then, onto the next one…" Needlez muttered.

_**There ye have it, but Mako isn't done dueling yet.**_

_**Until next we see him, I'll tell ye the tale of wee Zeffie Gale.**_

_**So young, but such promising talent. Her opponent had a real mean streak though…**_

_**I call it**_

_**Whirlwind Prodigy**_

_**Enjoy it while ye can**_

---

Original Cards

---

Enchanted Swampland

Field Spell

Image of three Des Frog standing on a lily pad in the middle of a pool of green water. Several smaller frogs are floating in the water nearby.

All monsters with the word 'Frog' in their title gain 200 attack and defense points. If a monster with 'Frog' in it's title is destroyed in battle, return it to the owner's deck and reshuffle the deck instead of sending of sending it to the graveyard.

---

Plague of Frogs

Spell

Image of dozens of frogs falling from the sky onto a screaming crowd.

Discard as many cards from your hand to the graveyard as you want. For each card you discard, add one monster with the word 'Frog' in it's title from your deck to your hand.

---

Living Frog

Spell

Image of a frog bursting from a hole in the ground

Discard one WATER monster from your hand. Select one WATER monster in your graveyard and special summon it.

_This card was first used by Princess Rose in the anime episode "Happily Never After." All credit for this card goes to the writers of that episode._


	3. Whirlwind Prodigy

_**Aye, Zeffie Gale was the youngest of my six duelists.**_

_**She also had the most energy and determination out of any of them. Ah, the folly of youth, to believe that you truly are invincible…**_

_**Zeffie was as close to invincible as any of them at least, hence the reason she became my second ranked duelist.**_

_**And I'm glad she was as tough as she thought, my other candidate for the position…**_

_**Well let's just say that I wouldn't have enjoyed her company.**_

Whirlwind Prodigy

Needlez waved one hand as the image of the water tournament faded away. Before him now stood the Silpheed statue that he had animated, taking a deep bow to the image of his lord.

"Lord Needlez, it is most fortuitous that you've contacted me now. The finals of the wind tournament are about to commence." Silpheed stated.

"Can the theatrics and tell me who's up." Needlez ordered, "I don't have all day you know. Worlds to conquer, people to enslave, all that."

"Of course…" Silpheed said, clearing his throat, "Our first competitor hails from England. She calls her Damosel Montgomery, and she runs a rather powerful dragon deck. But she's also a bit…abrasive."

"Notice me caring." Needlez said, "If she's the winner then I could care less what she's like."

"Well our last finalist is interesting. Her name is Zeffie Gale, and she's using quite a powerful…Well I'm not positive on how to classify her deck. It seems to use mostly Winged-beasts and Warriors."

"I see…How old did you say they were?" Needlez asked.

"Damosel is fifteen, and Zeffie is seven." Silpheed reported.

"Great, a kid or a teenager…" Needlez sighed, "I see I'm to be spared nothing…Let the finals commence."

"Right away sir." Silpheed nodded.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cavern for the wind tournament was rather bare. The rock walls were covered with a swirling pattern of limestone and quartz, with the torches casting a slight glitter over the wall. A single circle made of white limestone signaled where the duelists would stand.

In one corner stood Zeffie, playing with the straps on her duel disk as she waited for the final round to start. She had been doing well so far and, while the holograms had freaked her out a little at first, she was now thoroughly enjoying watching her monsters appear before her.

On the other side of the cavern was a teenage girl with flowing, blond hair wearing a lavender dress. She was made up as though she were some manner of royalty, including wearing a silver necklace, bracelet, ring, earrings, and tiara all set with diamonds. Beside her stood a elderly gentleman in a tuxedo, holding her duel disk and deck carefully.

Silpheed stepped into the center of the circle and raised one hand. Everyone looked toward him as he cleared his throat.

"Duelists of the wind, I thank you all for coming today. Alas, only one of you may walk away with the title of the Elemental Duelist of Wind, and I'm afraid that we are down to our last two." Silpheed intoned, "Allow me to introduce Zeffie Gale…"

Zeffie smiled and ran into the circle, bouncing on her heel as she waited for her opponent.

"And Damosel Montogomery…" Silpheed finished.

The elderly gentleman steeped to the edge of the ring, and cleared his throat.

"That is Lady Damosel Montogomery to you, my good sir." He stated simply.

With that, the tuxedoed man fell to one knee, holding up the fully loaded duel disk. The teenager, Damosel, strode up and lifted the disk, attaching it to her left arm with a practiced motion. She smiled as she held up her toy and looked down at Zeffie.

"So is this my final challenge today?" She asked, "How entertaining that a little girl feels that she is a match for the Dragon Princess."

"Hey, Zeffie's not that little!" Zeffie protested, "And Zeffie's doing really good today too!"

"I'm sure that you feel you are, but I have every advantage in this match." Damosel said as she held up her arm, "I'll be kind and offer you one chance to drop out."

"Nope, nope, nope, Zeffie's gonna duel." Zeffie said, shaking her head.

Damosel seemed mildly surprised by this. She looked to the gentleman behind her and nodded.

"Reynolds, inform my parents that I'll be in one more duel before this tournament has ended." She said.

"Very good ma'am." The butler nodded, before pulling out a cell phone and dialing.

Damosel turned back to Zeffie, who had turned on her own disk with a smile.

"LET'S DUEL!!" Both girls shouted as they drew five cards.

Zeffie: 8000

Damosel: 8000

"I pity you, poor commoner." Damosel sighed, "So you may take the first move."

"Um…Thank you?" Zeffie said as she drew and looked over her hand.

Zeffie smiled as she took one of the cards and put it on her disk. In front of her appeared a young man wearing a black body suit and a red scarf. His right and leg were covered in bandages, and he was swinging a metal chain tipped with a sharp blade over his head.

"Zeffie summons Chain Thrasher (1000/600) in attack mode!" The girl cheered, "Your move."

"_Zeffie will wait and see what Ms. Damosel does." _The giggled to herself.

"Very well." Damosel stated as she primly drew one card, "Then for my first move, I'll summon one of my sacred guardians…"

Damosel gently placed the card onto her disk, and a large dragon appeared before her! It had brown skin with white spikes coming from its back and a pair of white horns. It seemed very sluggish, and let out a lazy yawn as its eyelids drooped. It then fell asleep and began to snore softly.

"Most of the time, dragons attempt to devour beautiful maidens." Damosel smiled, "But the ones in my deck have chosen to serve me instead since they share my love of the wind! My Cave Dragon (2000/100) should be more than enough to handle you."

"Yikes!" Zeffie yelled as she and her monster drew back in fright.

"But I can't attack right now, so I end my turn here." Damosel sighed.

"You can't attack? Why not?" Zeffie asked.

Damosel pressed her palm to her forehead.

"I've forgotten how woefully ignorant the less privileged are." She sighed, "Cave Dragon can only be summoned if I don't have any monsters on the field, but he can only attack if I have another dragon on the field."

"Oh, okay." Zeffie nodded.

She pulled another card from her disk, and carefully looked it over. She sighed and turned her monster's card sideways, then placed another card horizontally next to it. On her field, a facedown monster appeared, and Chain Thrasher fell to one knee.

"Zeffie can't do anything but place one monster facedown, and move Chain Thrasher to defense mode." The girl sighed.

"Then it's my turn." Damosel declared as she drew, "And in case you weren't aware, I already had another dragon waiting to come forth. I summon Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack mode!"

Damosel placed another card on her tray, and the new dragon appeared next to the first one. This one looked more like a Pterodactyl with a long sharp beak, covered in blue scales. It let out a loud screech, and Cave Dragon opened its eyes wide. It shook its head, looked up at Spear Dragon, then turned toward Zeffie's field.

"Spear Dragon, destroy her Chain Thrasher with cyclone blast!" Damosel ordered with a sweep of her hand.

The blue dragon screeched again, and released a blast of air from its mouth. The winds tore at the young warrior, who gasped as he was knocked over and shattered.

"At least it was in defense mode, so Zeffie doesn't lose life points." The blond child sighed.

"You aren't very smart are you?" Damosel muttered, "Spear Dragon can damage your life points, even if the monster it destroys is in defense mode."

Zeffie gasped in fright, and Damosel pointed to her other monster.

"Cave Dragon, use your slumber blast to destroy her facedown monster!" She ordered.

The larger dragon opened its mouth, and a blast of green fumes shot out. The facedown monster flipped over, revealing another Chain Thrasher which shattered into pixels.

Zeffie: 6700

Damosel: 8000

"Now, I lay this card facedown and end my turn." Damosel stated as she put another card into her disk, "Which means that my Spear Dragon must now go into defense mode due to his own effect."

The beaked monster drew its wings around its body, and a facedown card shimmered forth behind it. Zeffie cautiously drew, and smiled as she saw what she held.

"Zeffie summons Sonic Duck (1700/700)." The child giggled as she put her card down.

Out of nowhere leapt a green duck wearing a long red scarf and a bucket on its head. It began to quack and stamp its feet on the ground, as though standing around were driving it crazy.

"Sonic Duck?" Damosel wondered, "Say isn't there some video game character named Sonic?"

"Yep, but Zeffie's ducky makes that hedgehog look like he's standing still!" Zeffie laughed, "Ducky, attack Spear Dragon with sonic wing dash!"

The duck quacked again, and spread its wings. Damosel gasped as she saw the creature's wings looked razor sharp. The duck suddenly became a green blur, which zipped right past her defense mode monster, and then zipped back to Zeffie's side. The Spear Dragon moaned, and then burst into fragments of data! Cave Dragon yawned, and once again closed its eyes and began to snore.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Needlez chuckled a bit as he watched Sonic Duck slice up Damosel's dragon.

"Well, that's what I call quality entertainment." He said with a grin, "That Zeffie kid has some skill…Even if she does lack focus. But hey, I can work around that."

He settled in as Sonic Duck snapped back into place on Zeffie's field.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Now, Zeffie plays this card facedown and that's all." Zeffie said as she put a card into her disk.

The holographic card appeared behind the mallard, which began to quack excitedly.

"My dragons and I will not be disgraced by a duck." Damosel fumed as she drew, "I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600)!"

Damosel put the card in her monster zone, and a sharp shard of blue crystal burst from the floor. The crystal cracked, and then shattered. In its place was a dragon, covered in sparkling blue scales. Its wings were folded behind it, and it let out an angry growl. Looking at Cave Dragon, it gently nudged the lazy creature, which stirred, and yawned again.

"Cave Dragon, destroy that duck!" Damosel ordered.

"Not this time!" Zeffie cheered as her facedown card lifted, "Zeffie activates Compulsory Evacuation Device!"

A strange machine appeared on the field. It looked like a dome, about the size of Zeffie, with a large hole in the top.

"And what is that contraption?" Damosel growled, "One of your little toys?"

"Yeppers!" Zeffie smiled, "But Zeffie decided to let Luster Dragon play with it this time."

One side of the machine opened, and a pair of mechanical arms reached out and grabbed the blue dragon. It roared in surprise, and was stuffed into the small dome. The dome spat out a burst of steam from the hole on top, and Luster Dragon went sailing into the ceiling!

"What happened!" Damosel shouted.

"Zeffie's trap sent your dragon back to your hand." Zeffie explained, "And since Cave Dragon doesn't have anymore dragon friends with him, he can't attack ducky!"

"Oh no!" Damosel moaned as her large monster fell asleep again.

She reluctantly picked Luster Dragon's card, and then slid another one into her disk. A facedown card shimmered into being behind Cave Dragon.

"That isn't going to happen again, I can assure you." Damosel scowled, "Now take your turn."

"Okie-doky!" Zeffie smiled as she drew, "Time for Zeffie to bring in one of her big birdies. Zeffie tributes Sonic Duck to summon Roc from the Valley of Haze (2400/1400)."

The duck gave one last quack, and vanished in a pulse of wind. A loud screech filled the air, and a giant bird appeared over the young girl. It looked very much like an eagle, with a cow skull covering its head. Its feathers were brown all over, except for the wings which were red. It turned its eye sockets toward the snoring Cave Dragon, and let out another screech.

"Uh oh." Damosel muttered as she stared up at the huge monster.

"Roc, attack her dragon with canyon caw!" Zeffie ordered.

The bird swooped higher and opened its beak. From the yellow maw emerged a deafening shriek accompanied by rings of green energy that slammed into the sleeping dragon. The lazy beast groaned, just before shattering into tiny pixels. Damosel cringed as her life points dropped.

Zeffie: 6700

Damosel: 7600

"Looks like your dragon got splatted!" Zeffie cheered, pumping her fist to the sky.

"Yes, but I've got another waiting in the wings." Damosel responded, waving a hand over her disk, "And now it's time to clip yours! I activate: Revenge Sacrifice!"

A quickplay spell showing the image of a young woman about to be grabbed by a pair of ghostly hands lifted. Immediately, the hands on the card leapt out, and grabbed Zeffie's monster. Zeffie gasped as Roc was roughly pulled to Damosel's side and vanished just like the Cave Dragon.

"What gives?" Zeffie shouted, "What did you do to Zeffie's birdie?"

"I sacrificed it of course." Damosel explained, "Revenge Sacrifice can only be used if one of my monsters is destroyed in battle. I can then sacrifice one of your monsters to summon a level five or six monster from my hand."

Zeffie gulped nervously as Damosel primly laid a card on her tray.

"And since you weren't such a big fan of Luster Dragon, let's see what you think of his big brother." Damosel scowled, "Meet Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1500)!"

A huge group of emeralds burst from the floor in front of Damosel. She smiled as the crystals fell apart, and in their stead was a dragon covered in beautiful green scales. Its body seemed to shimmer with a gem-like luster, from its wings to the tip of its tail, and it stood a good twenty feet tall.

"So, are you done with your turn?" Damosel challenged.

"Not yet." Zeffie gulped, "Zeffie lays one card down and then ends her turn."

The new card appeared before Zeffie, and the emerald dragon eyed the girl hungrily. Damosel just smirked again as she drew.

"I think I'll rejoin these separated siblings, and re-summon my Luster Dragon (1900/1600)." Damosel stated as she placed another monster on her disk.

Next to the green dragon appeared the smaller blue dragon, its scales like polished sapphires. The two dragons nodded to each other, and Zeffie drew back in fright.

"Your stupid little Compulsory trick won't save you this time." Damosle laughed, "Even if that facedown card is another Evacuation Device, you're still going to lose at least 1900 life points this turn. Luster Dragon attack!"

"Zeffie chains a trap to your attack!" Zeffie responded.

As the blue dragon began to charge up its breath weapon, Zeffie smiled and slammed her finger on a button on her disk. Her facedown card lifted, and a powerful gust of wind shot forward, causing both beasts to roar in discomfort. A giant, blue eagle rose behind Zeffie, flapping its wings furiously, generating a new gust with each beat. The two dragons finally fell to all fours, folding their wings across their bodies.

"What the…" Damosel protested, "What happened?"

"Zeffie activated her trap." The girl giggled, "Windstorm of Etaqua! It forces all monsters you control to change their battle positions, so you can't attack this turn."

"But I ordered my attack first." Damosel pouted, stamping her foot.

"But Zeffie chained to the attack, so her trap goes through first." Zeffie explained, "And neither of your dragons can attack while in defense mode."

Damosel just looked pouty and upset as she turned Luster Dragon #2's card.

"That's not fair." She complained, "You pulled a dirty trick!"

"It's a legal move." Zeffie retorted.

"Fine, well so is this." Damosel grinned, "I didn't change Luster Dragon #2's position myself this turn, so I can just change it back right now!"

The green dragon once more stood up, and glared furiously at Zeffie. Zeffie just giggled a bit, and looked at Damosel.

"That's all for my turn." Damosel admitted.

Zeffie giggled again and drew her card. She smiled as she saw what she now held in her hand.

"Hooray! Zeffie can pull one of her best tricks now." She cheered, "Zeffie plays Pot of Greed to draw two new cards."

Zeffie played the card, and drew two more as a grinning jar jumped up before her. The jar shattered, letting out a chuckle before it did.

"Next, Zeffie plays Graceful Charity." Zeffie continued, placing another card in her disk.

Behind her appeared an angelic woman, who bathed Zeffie in a pure, white light. Zeffie drew three more cards, and then took two others and put them in her graveyard.

"And now, Zeffie summons her absolute favorite monster…" Zeffie said, as she bounced up and down on her heels.

She placed the card on her disk, and the roar of a motorcycle filled the cavern. From nowhere, a green skinned man riding a red motorcycle drove in. He came to a stop before Zeffie, and flashed a thumbs-up. He then turned to Damosel, and turned his thumb down.

"Chaosrider Gustaph (1400/1500)!" Zeffie finished, jumping for joy as she did.

"He's far too weak to be a threat to me." Damosel scoffed.

"Oh yeah?" Zeffie challenged, "Gustaph is a wind monster, so Zeffie can equip him with this spell card!"

Zeffie placed a card in the slot behind Gustaph, and the front of his bike was immediately adorned with a decorative fan. He smiled as a cool breeze wafted from the paper fan.

"Gust Fan will give Gustaph 400 more attack, but drop his defense by 200." Zeffie explained.

"Then that ruffian only has 1800 attack points." Damosel sighed, "Honestly, are all commoners _this_ stupid?"

"Zeffie's smart, not stupid." Zeffie laughed.

"Then why do you insist on referring to yourself in the third person." Damosel frowned.

"'Cause it's fun." Zeffie explained, "Anyway, Zeffie plays Gustaph's special effect! By removing two spells from her graveyard, Zeffie gives Gustaph 300 extra attack for each one!"

Zeffie quickly pulled Graceful Charity and Pot of Greed from her graveyard, and Damosel looked on in horror as Gustaph (2400/1500) revved his engine. 

"He's even with my dragon now." Damosel scowled, "What good could that possibly do you?"

"Easy, Zeffie has another spell to cast." Zeffie explained, putting another card in her disk, "This one is called Flint."

"Flint?" Damosel muttered, "Wait, I know that one. It drops the attack of whatever you equip it to by 300 points. But why would you put that on Gustaph?"

"Zeffie wouldn't." Zeffie explained, "Your Luster Dragon #2 on the other hand…"

Zeffie trailed off as a mass of shackles burst from the floor and grabbed hold of the green dragon. Luster Dragon #2 (2100/1500) roared in anger as it struggled against the binds.

"Gustaph, attack her tied up dragon with exhaust rush!" Zeffie shouted.

Gustaph revved his engine again, and tore forward on his vehicle. He pulled into a wheelie, and rammed the front tire into the weakened monster. The dragon roared in pain as the wheel ground against its chest, and then shattered into a million pixels of green light.

Zeffie: 6700

Damosel: 7300

"MY DRAGON!" Damosel screamed.

"And now that it's gone, Zeffie can attach Flint to a new monster." Zeffie smiled.

The chains recede back into the ground…

And then burst up around Luster Dragon! The blue dragon (1600/1600) screamed as it was hog-tied by the shackles, and fell to its back.

"And just so you know, the monster trapped by Flint can't change its battle position or attack." Zeffie smiled, "Okay, your turn."

Damosel was just oozing with rage toward the girl before her. She drew, and a smile began to cross her face. Gustaph's (1800/1500) engine died down a bit, his effect exhausted.

"Time for me to turn the tables." She chuckled, "There's nothing keeping me from sacrificing Luster Dragon, so I'll do so now…"

The bound monster disappeared in a flash of blue light, leaving the shackles on the floor.

"…Which means your annoying spell has to go to the graveyard…" Damosel reminded her foe.

Zeffie frowned as the shackles shattered, and she put them in her grave.

"…And now, I'll summon one of the ultimate wind dragons." Damosel smiled, a glint in her eye, "I summon Armed Dragon Lv 5 (2400/1700)!"

In front of the princess appeared a red and black dragon. It had metal spikes and blades emerging from its back and front. Its tail was even shaped like a drill! The monster growled at Zeffie, the blades on its body glistening within the dim light of the cave. Zeffie gulped as she took a step away from the beast.

"And now for the best part." Damosel laughed, sliding a card to her graveyard, "If I discard a monster, I can destroy one other monster whose attack is less than the one I discarded. And I just discarded my second Cave Dragon (2000/100)!"

Armed Dragon roared, and one of the blades on its front flew off like a rotary saw! The blade sliced right through Gustaph, who groaned, and shattered.

"Gustaph!" Zeffie screamed, her heart paining as her favorite monster burst.

"And I still have my dragon's attack to use on you." Damosel laughed, her hair starting to fall out of place, "Attack now with blade storm!"

The bladed dragon roared again, and fired a series of blades from its stomach. Zeffie screamed as the razor sharp disks flew about in a chaotic pattern, and finally slammed into the floor next to her and exploded.

Zeffie: 4300

Damosel: 7300

Zeffie groaned, and Damosel just laughed in response.

"Too much for you? Well too bad!" She mocked, "I'm ending my turn there."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmm…This Damosel girl already seems to hold a rather low opinion of this world." Needlez noted as he rubbed his chin, "It wouldn't take much to get her to my side…On the other hand there's that butler of hers to deal with."

Needlez watched as Zeffie picked herself up, gathering the cards she had dropped.

"I'll have to wait and see how this one ends." He decided.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zeffie drew, and frowned as she saw what she had.

"Zeffie just sets one monster facedown." Zeffie squeaked, as a mystery monster appeared before her.

"Pathetic." Damosel smiled as she drew, "Well, I can only use Armed Dragon's effect on face up monsters, so I'll have to take this facedown one out the old fashioned way. Blade storm!"

Damosel waved her arm dramatically, and another barrage of blades shot out. They approached the facedown monster, which flipped to reveal a strange looking bird. It had colorful feathers and bulging eyes, which bulged even more as it was cut into cubes.

"Now then…" Damosel began.

"Hold on!" Zeffie shouted, "You flipped Ashinigrai (500/500) so you have to discard one card before you do anything else.

Damosel shrugged, and dropped a card from her hand.

"As I was saying…" Damosel continued.

"And then, since he was destroyed, Zeffie can take another Ashinigrai from her deck, and put it facedown." Zeffie interrupted again, putting a new card from her deck onto her disk.

"Alright, I don't care!" Damosel shouted as another facedown monster appeared before Zeffie, "Those birds are just like you. Annoying! But my ultimate dragon will fix this. Since Armed Dragon Lv 5 destroyed a monster in battle, I can tribute it to summon Armed Dragon Lv 7 (2800/1000)!"

Damosel pulled a card from her deck, and traded it for the one on her field. The dragon before her glowed, and began to grow. Soon, it was forty feet tall, and was covered with even more deadly looking blades. Its wings were metal and sharp, and it wore an iron mask over the top of its head.

"Now, that's my turn, so go ahead." Damosel stated.

Zeffie drew, and the mutant dragon glared down at her. Zeffie looked over her two cards, and frowned.

"No, these are no good." She sighed, "Zeffie passes."

"Excellent, you're starting to get smart." Damosel smirked as she drew her fifth card, "I think my dragon looks a little lonesome, don't you? Why don't I have my Gray Wing (1300/700) keep him company?"

Damosel put a new card on her disk, and a scaly gray dragon jumped up. It looked more-or-less like a raptor, and glared at Zeffie and her field.

"Now then, I know that monster is just another annoying bird, but before I attack, I'll activate Gray Wing's power." Damosel stated, sliding a card into her grave, "I just discard one card, and he can attack twice in this turn."

A holographic card appeared before Gray Wing, who greedily gobbled it up.

"Gray Wing, destroy her monster with rapid slash!" Damosel ordered.

The gray dragon swooped forward, and cut the facedown card in two. Ashinigrai appeared again, and then vanished.

"Now you have to discard a card, and Zeffie gets another Ashinigrai." Zeffie reminded Damosel.

"Like I said, I don't care." Damosel scoffed as she dropped another card and Zeffie put another on her disk, "Gray Wing, destroy the second one!"

Another facedown monster appeared, but was quickly diced up by the raptor/dragon. Damosel discarded another card, leaving just one in her hand, as the final bird burst into sparks.

"And now, for the coup-d'grat." Damosel chuckled, "Armed Dragon Lv 7, direct attack with bladed blaster!"

The giant dragon let loose another roar, and fired dozens of blades from its chest. This time, the holographic weapons flew at, and through, Zeffie, who screamed as her disk's rumble pack and pain simulators made the damage feel all too real.

Zeffie: 1100

Damosel: 7300

"You don't have a chance." Damosel smiled, "You barely have one-eighth of your life points left, and I have almost all of mine. You might as well give up. Even if you summoned something with high enough defense to protect you, or even an entire wall of monsters, Armed Dragon Lv 7 can wipe out any and all monsters you have face up that are weaker than any monster I choose to discard from my hand. So you should just quit."

"Never!" Zeffie shouted, striking a dramatic pose, "Zeffie never gives up!"

"Then it's your turn." Damosel shrugged, "Like you can do anything."

"Zeffie can do plenty, watch." Zeffie said as she drew, "First, Zeffie plays Snatch Steal!"

Zeffie played her card, and a shifty eyed bandit appeared before her.

"NO!" Damosel screamed, "He's going to take my dragon!"

"Yep." Zeffie confirmed, "So come here Armed Dragon!"

The bandit jumped forward, and vanished into the behemoth dragon's body. Its eyes glazed over, and it stumbled to Zeffie's side of the duel arena.

"Next, Zeffie summons her third Chain Thrasher (1000/600)!" Zeffie exclaimed, putting another card on her disk.

Another blond warrior, swinging his bladed chain overhead, appeared next to the dragon.

"Now Zeffie plays Card of Sanctity, so we both draw till we have six cards." Zeffie continued, placing another card in her disk.

A golden flash lit up the area, and both females drew five cards.

"And finally, Zeffie plays Premature Burial to revive Gustaph (1400/1500)." Zeffie finished, placing her last card in her disk.

A familiar engine roar filled the arena, and Gustaph burst out of the ground, still riding his bike. His ride was a bit dented up, and he was covered in scratches and bruises, but he didn't seem to care now that he was back on the field.

"I don't like where this is going…" Damosel fretted, her hair an absolute mess now.

"Zeffie uses your dragon's power, and drops Winged Sage Falcos (1700/1200)!" Zeffie smiled as she put a card in her grave.

The dragon roared with fury, and a blast of saw blades flew from its body. Gray Wing screamed, and shattered as it was sliced and diced.

"Too bad that you don't have enough power to finish me this turn." Damosel taunted, "Now I don't feel so bad about those Waboku and Negate Attacks that I lost because of your pillow stuffers."

"You should, because Zeffie has two more effects to use." Zeffie smiled as Gust Fan and Card of Sanctity emerged from her grave, "First, Zeffie removes two spells to boost Gustaph's attack power again."

Gustaph (2000/1500) revved his cycle once more as his attack points soared.

"And then there's Chain Thrasher." Zeffie smiled, "He's a really special monster, because for every copy of him in the graveyard, the ones still on the field get an extra attack."

"And I destroyed two Chain Thrashers at the start of this duel…" Damosel gasped in horror.

"So this duel is done!" Zeffie shouted, "Armed Dragon, attack!"

The massive dragon glared at its former master as the blades on its stomach began to spin, prior to launching off. Damosel screamed as her own monster's blades were sent flying though her body.

"Chain Thrasher, go!" Zeffie ordered, "Chain of revenge!"

The chain warrior swung his weapon, striking Damosel across her chest. Damosel groaned in pain, and fell to her knees.

"Again!" Zeffie shouted.

The chains struck again, this time hitting Damosel in her ribs just as she got to her feet. She stumbled back from the force of the blow, gasping in pain.

"One more time!" Zeffie yelled.

The chain wrapped around Damosel's waist this time, and she was dragged to the ground. Damosel struggled to her feet, her entire body sore from the beating she was receiving.

"This…isn't…fair." Damosel snarled, her face turning purple with rage "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO WIN!! I AM!"

"Umm…Zeffie's pretty sure that's not in the rule book." Zeffie said, pointing at her opponent, "Gustaph, attack her directly!"

Gustaph's engine roared, and he drove forward. Damosel screamed as the biker punk slammed his fist into her stomach, knocking her to the ground.

Zeffie: 300

Damosel: 0

Damosel gasped in pain, and fell to her knees. Her hair was a complete rat nest now, and she was glaring at Zeffie with malice in her eyes.

"I hate you." She hissed.

"Zeffie gets that a lot." Zeffie mused, "But you're just mad because Zeffie won, and you're a big meanie who always bullies people until she has her way."

"Why I never!" Damosel huffed.

"Madame is outraged!" Shouted Damosel's servant, shaking his fist at Zeffie.

And with that, Damosel got to her feet, and stormed toward the exit. On her face, a world class pout. Zeffie giggled to herself as Silpheed stepped forward and raised her hand.

"We have our winner folks: Zeffie Gale!" Silpheed announced, "A well played match indeed!"

The remaining duelists applauded as Zeffie was led to the back of the cave, where a door was set. ON the door was the image of a cloud, and Silpheed opened it with a wave of his hand.

"Okay Zeffie, now at the end of this tunnel lies the winner's chambers. Just follow the path and you'll be there in no time." Silpheed instructed.

"You got it!" Zeffie cheered as she dashed through the door, "Bye!"

Silpheed closed the door as she ran off…

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Needlez massaged his temples for a minute and sighed. Reaching into the pocket of his jacket, he pulled out a small bottle of aspirin. A little something he always carried with him in case of a sudden headache or joint pain. He shook the bottle, hearing the rattle of a lone pill inside.

"I'll need to get some more of this." He said to himself.

_**Wee Zeffie was so full of life…**_

_**And such a headache looking back. How did Gold ever put up with her?**_

_**Ah well, that's neither here nor there.**_

_**Next time, I'll tell ye the tale of Julius Gold, "The Fighting Mountain," and his opponent for the tournament of earth.**_

_**It's called**_

_**Guard Penalty**_

_**Be seeing yew…**_

---

Original Cards

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Revenge Sacrifice

Quickplay spell

Image of a young woman running away form a pair of ghostly hands.

You may only activate this card after one of your monsters is destroyed in battle. Tribute a monster on your opponent's field and special summon a level five or six monster from your hand.

_This card was first used by Krupp in the episode "Freeze Play." All credit goes to the writers of that episode._


	4. Guard Penalty

_**Gold, my duelist of earth, was quite a big fellow. A bit of a softy when it came to came to kids.**_

_**I had to give him a bit of personality overhaul to make him aggressive enough to have a chance against Ishizu, and even then he lost twice.**_

_**Still, I do not regret my decision to hire him…**_

_**If I'd hired the other guy, I'd have a few more teenage hormones to deal with.**_

_**Let me tell you, those can be a bit of a headache…**_

Guard Penalty

Needlez waved one hand in front of himself, watching as the Rock Spirit projected in front of him. The stony monster huffed a bit, as though hating to be bothered, and glanced away from Needlez toward the duel in the background.

"Now then, we'll have none of that." Needlez warned, holding up his watch as the stone set in it glistened, "Are ye almost done?"

"Almost." Rock Spirit responded, watching as the final blow landed, "One duel left."

"Glad to hear it. Get on with it, I shall be watching." Needlez ordered.

Rock Spirit nodded his head and strode toward the center of the cavern.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The cavern for the Earth Tournament hadn't needed much adjusting. All Rock Spirit had done was turn the walls and floor into sandstone, with small stalagmites forcing their way out of the ground around the ring. The walls receded on either side, forming a set of rough bleachers that the eliminated duelists were currently occupying.

The center of the ring for the duels was currently occupied by a boy, roughly thirteen-years-old, with auburn hair tied back in a ponytail, currently wearing faded jeans, a blue shirt, and a green vest over it. His grey eyes were scanning over the defeated players, and he laughed.

"Losers!" He taunted, "Isn't there someone that can stand up to me?"

Rock Spirit huffed again as he stepped into the arena.

"Finals will begin now." He stated simply.

"There's no one left for me to duel!" The boy protested.

"Duel shall be Andrew Hoffman against Julius Gold." Rock Spirit continued, ignoring the boy.

Out of the bleachers stepped Gold, who was adjusting the straps on his duel disk.

"Darn thing wasn't designed for my arms…" He grunted, the straps digging into his skin even after he had let them out all the way.

Gold stepped over the small protrusions around the ring, and smiled at his opponent. Andrew sneered in response.

"Okay Gramps, you're all that's between me and my prize." Andrew growled.

"Gramps? You talk to your teachers like that?" Gold asked, shuffling his cards.

"Why, you a teacher?" Andrew challenged as he held up his own cards.

Gold just loaded his deck into place, as did Andrew. Both disks turned on, and Rock Spirit stepped aside.

"Begin." He ordered.

**Gold: 8000**

**Andrew: 8000**

"What's a guy your age doing playing Duel Monsters anyway?" Andrew asked, drawing five cards.

"You want to know? It's for the money, that's all." Gold said as he drew his own cards, "But don't get me wrong, I've met some good people playing this game. It's fun, really."

"Whatever, just take the first move." Andrew sighed.

Gold drew a sixth card, turning his arm slightly to give more slack to the straps. He set one card onto his tray, watching as it appeared in front of him.

"Man, what can't technology do?…" Gold said, casually swinging one leg through the holographic card, "Sorry, I end my turn with this facedown monster."

"That's all?" Scoffed his opponent as he drew, "This will be a cakewalk. I summon Amazoness Fighter!"

In front of Andrew burst a muscular woman wearing a bikini made of blue fur. Most of her hair was in a ponytail, but the rest was wild on top of her head. She smiled and cracked her knuckles.

"Hello there, good looking." Andrew smiled.

Fighter turned around to look at her controller. Upon seeing him, she scowled as he gave her a wink.

"My girls just love me." Andrew smirked, "Now then, attack his facedown monster with fist of the amazons (1500/1300)!"

Fighter charged forward, a scowl still on her face as she pulled back her fist. Gold just watched as his facedown monster turned over to reveal a statue made of green rock that looked like nothing more than a large block with human features. Fighter's fist slammed into this target, which shuddered but stayed where it was.

"That would be my Stone Statue of the Aztecs (300/2000)." Gold explained as Fighter stepped back, "When he's in defense mode, you lose double the life points you should when you attack him."

"Oh yeah? Well when Fighter battles I don't get any battle damage at all." Andrew explained, "And since two times zero is still zero, guess I'm still in the running, eh gramps?"

"Don't call me gramps." Gold requested.

"Whatever." Andrew said, sliding another card into play, "I'll set this facedown and end my turn."

The card appeared behind Fighter, who gave it a casual glance. Gold drew another card, and looked over his hand.

"Eh…One more facedown monster." Gold declared, a card appearing next to his statue, "That's all."

"That's pathetic." Andrew said, drawing again, "Let me show you a real move. I summon the second hottest monster in my deck: Amazoness Paladin (1700/300)!"

Another woman walked out onto the field, wearing a white mini-skirt, bikini-top, cowl combination. She carried a slim sword in one hand, which she was currently tapping against the palm of her free hand as she glared at her controller.

"Those monsters don't seem to like ya." Gold pointed out.

"Oh like they really care. At least I'm giving them more of a chance to play than my sister." Andrew stated, "She heard about this tournament and said it wasn't worth the time…"

"Wait, are you saying that you stole your _sister's _cards to come here?" Gold asked, frowning deeply.

"More like borrowed without permission when she was on a date." Andrew smiled, "But I'll give 'em back once I'm done here. She always clobbers me when we duel because of these stupid broads, but I'll show her she's nothing special. If I can win with her deck, anybody can."

Gold closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Andrew looked confused. 

"You okay old timer?" He asked.

"Fine…Just thinking about what you'll look like if your sister ever gets her hands on ya." Gold grinned, "'Course, she'll have to wait, I've got you here right now. So let's give you a little lesson in manners."

Andrew frowned now, but shook his head.

"You don't scare me! Since I summoned Paladin, she gets an extra 100 attack points for every Amazoness on my field, herself included." Andrew declared.

Paladin and Fighter looked to each other and nodded, Paladin's attack score rising to (1900/300).

"Fighter, attack his facedown monster!" Andrew shouted.

Fighter lunged forward again, pulling back her fist to deliver a punch. As she did, the facedown monster turned over to reveal an ugly green bug, with a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"Man-Eater Bug (450/600) destroys a monster when it's flipped." Gold warned as he pointed toward Andrew's field, "So let's get rid of Amazoness Paladin this time."

The was sent flying into the air by a powerful uppercut from the Fighter. It landed with a squelch on top of Amazonness Paladin, who screamed as both she and the bug shattered into pixels. Andrew growled as Fighter returned.

"Aghh! You idiot, watch what you're hitting!" He scolded the monster.

"Lesson one, you shouldn't talk to women like that. Especially ones that look like they can take your head off." Gold cautioned.

Fighter smiled at Gold, then cracked her knuckles as she looked back at Andrew. He growled in response.

"She's just a dumb card. What's she gonna do?" Andrew challenged.

"With these holograms, hard to say." Gold shrugged, "But chances are, you wouldn't like it."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hm…Amazon versus…What the hell kind of deck is that Gold fellow using?" Wondered Needlez.

"Heavy defense." Rock Spirit said in a low voice.

"And he got this far just defending?" Needlez wondered, "Unbelievable, no one builds a deck without at least one attacker."

"Has spell." Rock Spirit stated.

"Oh, a spell card, what kind of spell card?" Needlez scowled.

Upon hearing the answer, the megalomaniac stopped sneering.

"Oh, that's interesting." He stated, "Maybe this Gold has something going for him."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gold drew his card, and smiled when he saw it.

"Alright, I just drew what the card I needed." He said, sliding the card into place, "I activate…Final Countdown!"

A clap of thunder shook the ceiling as clouds gathered overhead. From the clouds lowered twenty small fires, each of which alighted on top of one of the stalagmites around the ring. Andrew looked around at these flames, and then turned back to Gold.

"So what does that spell of yours do?" He asked, looking worried.

"Time for a lesson in patience." Gold grinned, "I can be a patient guy, ww

ich is good for my deck. Now, if the duel isn't over in twenty turns, I'll automatically win. And it only costs 2000 life points."

**Gold: 6000**

**Andrew: 8000**

**20 turns left**

Andrew's eyes went wide at this announcement. Gold smiled as he took another card from his hand and set it onto his disk. It appeared facedown, next to his Stone Statue of the Aztecs.

"We start the countdown now." Gold said, turning a thumb down as one of the flames went out, "Turn one, is over."

Andrew drew his card, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw it.

"And now it doesn't matter." He smiled as he held up the monster he had drawn, "I just drew the one monster that will take you down way before my time runs out. The absolute hottest Amazon ever: Amazoness Swords Woman (1500/1600)!"

Yet another woman stepped onto the field, this one dressed in a bikini that barely held back her ample bosom. She hefted a large sword that seemed to be at least the length of her body and carved from the fang of a wild beast. Her red hair was wild behind her, and she had an angered glare in her eyes, directed at the boy that summoned her.

"Don't give me that look, you know you love me." Andrew smiled.

The response was Amazoness Swords Woman hefting her blade to Andrew, who raised one hand in protest.

"Hey, you're on my field so you'll do what I want." Andrew stated, "Now attack his Stone Statue of the Aztecs!"

Swords Woman growled, but sprang forward and smashed her sword against the green rock. The weapon struck with a clang, and almost vibrated out of her hand as she stumbled backward.

"You gone nuts or something? You just lost 1000 life points." Gold asked.

"Oh did I?" Andrew challenged, "Check the score."

Gold looked at his own disk, and did a double-take as he saw his score go down.

"What the heck in a hamster ball just happened?" Gold shouted.

"That's Swords Woman's special ability." Andrew smiled, "She takes all the damage from the battles she's in and gives it to you instead of me. So you lost 1000 points."

"_Julius Gold, you might have a problem now."_ Gold told himself.

"Your move." Andrew smiled, his Amazons looking less pleased.

**Gold: 5000**

**Andrew: 8000**

**18 turns left**

Gold drew his card with a grim look. He set into his disk, the card appearing behind his facedown monster.

"Your move kid." He said simply.

"'Bout time." Andrew said as he drew, "Let's see, I could chip away at you with Swords Woman, but that won't be fast enough if you boost your score somehow."

He held up the monster he had drawn with a grin.

"So I summon my Amazoness Tiger (1100/1200) in attack mode!" Andrew called out.

The call was answered by a roar, and from behind him leapt a massive tiger, wearing a gold collar and golden bracers around its ankles. Its right eye was scarred, and it was turning a glare from its good eye between Gold and Andrew.

"I'm more of a dog person, to be honest, but Tiger here has…" Andrew started.

"Let me guess: A special ability." Gold interrupted.

"Right! The Amazon's pet here gets an extra 400 attack points for every Amazoness on the field, herself included." Andrew smiled, "That gives her a score of 2300!"

Tiger (2300/1200) growled, and turned to Andrew with a hungry look in her good eye.

"I'm not your food today!" Andrew scolded.

"Those things act that way with your sister?" Gold asked.

"No one asked you, gramps!" Andrew shouted, "Swords Woman, attack his statue again!"

The furious female cast another disapproving glare at Andrew as she reluctantly lifted her weapon and charged. Gold tapped on his disk, and smiled as a silver shell burst into being in front of him.

"I activate Draining Shield, stopping the attack and adding your monster's attack to my life points." Gold called out.

"Why, my tiger is stronger?" Andrew asked.

"But she doesn't bounce damage." Gold pointed out as Swords Woman struck the shield with a loud ring.

Green light poured from the shield and covered Gold, boosting his score. Andrew ground his teeth together and pointed at the facedown monster.

"Fighter, attack his hidden monster!" Andrew ordered.

The Fighter dashed forward, preparing another punch, only for a large humanoid figure made of solid granite to emerge from the monster card. It held up a stone hand, and Fighter turned around and stomped back to her own field in anger.

"Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000) has a defense just like my Stone Statue." Gold pointed out with a smile.

"Ergh…Tiger, you attack it!" Andrew shouted, "Maul of the great cat!"

The Tiger growled and jumped forward, baring her claws and fangs which slashed into gold's granite soldier with a crunch of crushing rock. The Soldier of Stone fell over, landing with a crash and vanishing as Tiger pawed through the rubble, looking for something to eat out of the mess.

"My turn is over." Andrew stated, another of the flames around the arena extinguishing itself.

**Gold: 6500**

**Andrew: 8000**

**16 turns left**

Gold drew his new card with a frown. The only monster in his hand was Millennium Shield, and would hurt more than help. The other cards in his hand didn't look promising at all.

"Eh…I pass this turn." Gold said with a shrug, "Go ahead."

Andrew seemed confused, but he did as he was told and drew his card. Looking at it, he shuddered a bit.

"_This creepy hag…Why'd they make this card?"_ Andrew thought, _"All the others are smoking hot, why do the Amazons even keep this bag of bones around? Wait a minute…I think I got an idea."_

"I activate…ugh…Amazoness Spellcaster!" Andrew called out, holding up the card he had drawn.

From the spell emerged an old woman in a purple robe. She wore a headdress adorned with bones, and was chanting under her breath as she appeared next to Andrew. Upon seeing him, she frowned and smacked over the head with a gnarled fist.

"Ouch! Watch it granny!" Andrew scolded as all of his monsters chuckled.

"Hey, I like this card." Gold said, laughing a bit.

"Yeah, wellI think you'll particularly hate this next part." Andrew smiled, "Now I can trade the attack of one Amazoness on the field with the attack of one of your monsters. So I switch Swords Woman's and Stone Statue of the Aztecs!"

The crone looked confused but, having no choice but to obey, began chanting again. Swords Woman cried out as she fell to her knees, her strength fading to (300/1600). Stone Statue glowed with a strange light, almost like it had been given a fresh coat of paint as its stats jumped to (1500/2000).

"Why did you…Uh oh." Gold realized a second too late.

"Yeah, you get it now don't you?" Andrew grinned, "Swords Woman, attack his monster with blade of the Amazons!"

The weakened warrior lifted her sword and managed to hurl it at her target. It struck the statue with a crash, and flipped into the air with a loud whistle.

"Of course, you still take the damage, doubled because of your monster's effect!" Andrew called out.

Gold raised one arm as the sword came down on him. He let out a cry of pain as it missed his arm and pierced into his stomach before fading away.

"Now Tiger, destroy his monster!" Andrew shouted.

"Stop shouting, I'm right here." Gold scolded.

Tiger jumped forward once more, smashing Stone Statue of the Aztecs with a mighty pounce. It fell into pebbles which faded away, while Fighter cracked her knuckles again.

"Fighter, attack." Andrew ordered, his voice quieter this time.

Fighter dashed forward once again, and cocked back her fist. She threw her punch, only for it to be intercepted on one of Gold's massive hands. Fighter seemed impressed, and pulled back. She gave Gold a nod, and walked back to her side of the field.

Behind his back, Gold clenched his hand and winced at the pain.

"_These holograms sure are realistic."_ He thought.

"That's all for my turn." Andrew declared, yet another flame going out, "I don't think I'll miss my deadline."

**Gold: 1600**

**Andrew: 8000**

**14 turns left**

Gold drew his card now, still wincing a bit at the pain in his hand. Amazoness Swords Woman breathed a sigh of relief as her attack score went back to (1500/1600).

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Hm…I wonder if I should let Andrew be my earth duelist when he stole those cards." Needlez wondered, "He's good with them, that's for sure, and it's not like I care that he stole them…What was my point again?"

Needlez mused over the dilemma for a moment, then shrugged.

"Eh, so what if they're stolen? If he can use 'em well, then he's in." Needlez smiled.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Gold looked at the spell in his hand, and nodded.

"I play Reload, letting me shuffled hand back to my deck and draw a new one." Gold said as he played the spell.

On the field appeared an ornate pistol, which clicked once. Gold took his deck and shuffled his hand back in, giving the whole thing a few good passes before putting it back. The pistol clicked again and vanished, letting Gold draw five new cards.

"That's better." Gold smiled, "I'll set two cards facedown, and one monster in defense mode."

Two cards appeared in front of Gold, and in front of them appeared another facedown monster. Andrew yawned and stretched as he saw this.

"Sheesh, are you actually going to use your turns?" He asked.

"I'm done now." Gold stated.

Andrew drew, and shrugged as he looked over his cards.

"Not like I need anything more to win. Swords Woman, attack." Andrew ordered.

Swords Woman sighed and lifted her weapon once more. She began to run at her new target…

"Negate Attack, go!" Gold declared, the first of his facedown cards lifting.

Swords Woman let out a shout as an invisible barrier stopped her in her tracks. She wandered back to her original spot, while Andrew seethed a bit.

"Now none of your monsters can hurt me this turn." Gold smiled, "Anything else?"

"Just move." Andrew growled.

"Fine, but first I'm activating my other facedown card." Gold said, tapping his disk again, "Pyro Clock of Destiny, which causes one more turn to pass right now."

Andrew watched as the trap lifted, and a gust of wind blew from it. It blew out one of the flames, and another went out on its own. He looked a bit worried as Gold drew his next card.

"_Well hi there buddy."_ Gold thought as he saw the new monster, _"Ready to go?"_

"I play Swords of Concealing Light." Gold announced.

A cage of black swords fell from the ceiling, and crashed around Andrew's three monsters. All three females trembled a bit as shadows began to crawl over the field, and in three bursts of light they had all turned into facedown cards.

"What the hell did you do?" Andrew shouted.

"Relax kid, my spell here turns your monsters facedown when I play it. Then you can't change their battle position until my spell goes away in two turns." Gold explained, "Till then, I tribute my facedown Gear Golem the Moving Fortress…"

A squat machine made of bronze appeared on the field for a brief moment. It then faded away, and in its place rose a giant, at least as tall as Gold, wearing solid gold armor with massive fists and leering grin.

"…To summon my favorite card: Granmarg the Rock Monarch (2400/1000)." Gold called out, "And now that he's here, his special effect goes off: I destroy one facedown card on your field right now. Granmarg, get his facedown Swords Woman!"

Granmarg lifted both his arms, a huge boulder coming down from above. Swords Woman appeared on her card, crouching down in fear as the boulder fell from above and smashed into her. She screamed as she vanished in a flurry of dust.

"And now, he'll attack your facedown Tiger with rock smash!" Gold continued.

Granmarg pulled back a fist, and Andrew looked at his facedown card with disdain.

"_Eleanor's stupid deck…Ooooh…This Amazoness Archers is useless when all of my monsters are facedown!"_ He shouted in his head.

Granmarg's fist made contact with the Tiger, even as she leapt from card in fear, trying to avoid being smashed. The big cat fell to the ground with a whimper and shattered apart.

"That's it for me." Gold said with a smile, "Ten turns left."

Andrew drew his card, and smiled as he saw it

"_Sakuretsu Armor? Well, Eleanor does have some useful cards in here."_ Andrew thought.

"I set one monster facedown, and add another facedown card to be safe." Andrew declared, the two cards appearing before him, "That's all I can do for now."

Gold drew his card, and cast a gaze at the two cards his opponent was hiding. He took one card from his hand, and set it onto his disk, a facedown monster appearing next to Granmarg as he did so.

"I'll set a monster facedown, and end my turn." Gold declared, only eight flames left around the field.

Andrew drew his card, looking worried as he saw it.

"I…I…Oh!" Andrew growled, sliding another card onto his disk, "I defend with another monster!"

A third facedown monster appeared, and Gold nodded his head.

"Hey, I thought games were supposed to be fun." Gold said, "Why not calm down a little?"

"I am calm!" Andrew shouted, looking quite agitated, "Just move!"

Gold shrugged as he drew another card, bringing his hand up to two cards. As he did, the black swords that had fallen before faded away, and Gold took another card from his hand.

"I play Heavy Storm, destroying all our spells and traps." Gold announced, a powerful wind engulfing the field, "'Course, I don't have any spells or traps…"

The winds picked up Andrew's Sakuretsu Armor and his Amazoness Archers and dashed them to pieces against the wall. Andrew gasped, and drew back as Gold pointed at him.

"Granmarg, attack the monster in the middle!" Gold ordered.

Granmarg swung his fist out, and from the card emerged a girl wearing a green bikini and carrying a blowpipe. She screamed as she was smashed flat by the giant, and vanished from underneath his fist.

"Amazoness Blowpiper (800/1500) was one of my weakest anyway." Andrew declared, "I'll take out your giant on my next turn!"

Gold just shrugged, and waved one arm. At this signal, another flame went out leaving six on the field. Andrew drew his card, and smiled as he saw it.

"Oh yeah, time to take you apart." Andrew smiled, "I flip my Amazoness Fighter (1500/1300) and Amazoness Chain Master (1500/1300) into attack mode."

The two facedown cards lifted, and from them emerged two monsters. The first was Fighter, looking miffed as she stood up again. The second had gray hair, a blue bikini, and carried a length of chain ending with a sharp hook in her hand. She sneered at Andrew, who didn't seem to care as he put down another card.

"Next, I summon another Amazoness Paladin (1700/300)!" He declared.

Another of the white-clad women stepped out, casting her glare at Andrew as she readied her blade (2000/300). Andrew just smiled at her and gave her a wink as he held up another card.

"And next, I'll play Premature Burial, giving up 800 life points to revive Amazoness Tiger (1100/1200)." Andrew continued.

A red light appeared on his field, and from it emerged the Tiger, her fur caked with dirt and her claws broken. She growled as the other three Amazons brushed off some of the dirt, and her attack boosted to (2700/1200). Amazoness Paladin seemed more confident now that the Tiger was present, and her attack jumped to (2100/300)

**Gold: 1600**

**Andrew: 7200**

**6 turns left**

"Now, attack Granmarg my Tiger, with maul of the great cat!" Andrew commanded.

Gold watched as his favorite monster was pounced upon by the angered feline, which proceeded to rip his armor to shred with her teeth. Gold closed his eyes and breathed heavily as his life points dipped.

"And now my Paladin will take out your facedown monster!" Andrew ordered.

"Guess again." Gold said as his facedown monster turned over.

Amazoness Paladin had jumped forward to attack, only to be turned aside as a tiger made of blue fire appeared before her. She sheathed her weapon and stepped back, Amazoness Tiger looking confused at the sight of the new monster.

"Soul Tiger (0/2100) is just as strong as your monster, so it's another tie." Gold explained, "Unless the other ladies would like to attack."

Fighter and Chain Master both glared at Andrew, daring him to give the order. He just shook his head and glared at Gold.

"You won't last, my girls will rip you to shreds." Andrew threatened.

"If they don't decide to rip you up first." Gold warned.

"Just move." Andrew commanded.

Gold drew, and sighed upon seeing his draw. He set it into his disk, and it appeared behind Soul Tiger. He then waved one hand, ending his turn as Andrew drew.

"I've got you now old-timer." Andrew said, sliding a card into play, "I summon my second Amazoness Swords Woman (1500/1600)."

Another of the wild red-heads hefting her massive sword strode onto the field. Andrew smirked as he slapped her across the behind, and she whipped around with a glare of death in her eyes. Andrew held up his duel disk and, upon seeing it, Swords Woman turned back around with an angry look on her face. Amazoness Paladin (2200/300) and Amazoness Tiger (3100/1200) both moved closer to the Swords Woman to comfort her.

"Now my Tiger will turn yours into kitty litter." Andrew declared, "Attack now Amazoness Tiger!"

The Tiger lunged forward and Gold watched as it swatted his Soul Tiger, scattering its insubstantial form into the air. Gold tapped his disk, causing his facedown card to lift up and reveal a trio of robed priestesses standing behind a shimmering barrier.

"I activate Hallowed Life Barrier." Gold announced, dropping his last card from his hand, "Now I discard one card, and you can't hurt my life points for this turn."

A blue shield flew appeared over Gold's field, and the Amazons all stood outside of it with confused looks. Andrew ground his teeth together, and pointed at Gold.

"You don't have any cards left in your hand. Next turn, you've had it!" He shouted, "Now go!"

Yet another flame went out, leaving three on the field. Gold drew his card, shrugged and set it into his disk.

"One card facedown, and that's all." He said, another flame dying out and leaving two burning.

"Good, now get ready." Andrew said as he drew, "Since you've been humiliating me at every turn with those traps, I'm gonna take you down with the most powerful combo this deck has. I equip my Amazoness Tiger with United We Stand!"

A glowing aura appeared around the Tiger, which stood up tall and proud as the other four Amazons stroked her fur. She growled in appreciation as her attack strength rocketed to (7100/5200). Gold's eyes went wide at the sight of this.

"Surprised? This spell grants one monster an extra 800 attack and defense points for every monster I have face up." Andrew explained, "Now attack, my Tiger, maul of the great cat!"

The Tiger roared, and lunged forward. Gold just grinned as he pointed to his facedown card.

"And I thought this wouldn't help." He smiled, "Go Draining Shield!"

Andrew's jaw fell slack as a silver barrier burst before Gold and the Tiger slammed against it.

"How? You already used that card!" Andrew protested.

"Who says I can only have one?" Gold asked with a grin, "That's 7100 life points to me."

The green light didn't glow around Gold so much as it blazed, boosting his score higher and higher…

"Everyone else attack!" Andrew shouted frantically.

The other four Amazons jumped forward, driving their fists and blades into Gold. He just gave them an apologetic look, and threw his arms, sending the four women falling backward onto their rears.

"Sorry ladies, don't know my own strength." Gold apologized.

The Amazons all stood up, and nodded to Gold as if to say 'No hard feelings.' Andrew's eye was twitching as Gold's score finished adjusting.

**Gold: 2000**

**Andrew: 7200**

**2 turns left**

"You done yet?" Gold asked.

Andrew gritted his teeth together so hard it was a wonder that none of them cracked. He let out a defeated sigh, and waved one hand, the second-last-fire going out as he did.

Gold drew his card, and then tapped his disk.

"I end my turn, Final Countdown is finished." Gold announced, the last flame going out, "And while I could just blow you up with it, I think the Amazons have something better in mind…"

Andrew looked up to see the five monsters on his field turn toward him with hatred on their faces. Tiger growled as her masters readied their weapons…

"Ladies…" Andrew began.

He was cut off as all five of the monsters attacked together.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh my…That can't be…I'm sure that's not supposed to bend like that…Oh that's very interesting, pity it looks so painful." Needlez commented as Andrew received what was sure to be the most vicious beating of his life, "Well, just goes to show that cheaters never prosper."

Needlez looked at Gold, who was shuffling his deck again and sliding it into his pocket.

"Congratulations Mr. Gold, I'll be seeing ye shortly." Needlez grinned.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

In the arena, Rock Spirit stepped up as the last of the Amazons faded away. Andrew got up, moaning in pain, and limped toward the exit.

"Man, Eleanor is gonna kill me…" He moaned under his breath.

"Julius Gold wins." Announced Rock Spirit, a polite applause sounding from the audience, "Mr. Gold, please go through the door behind me to receive your prize. All others, thank you for coming today."

Gold turned to the door, and shrugged as he headed through it. He heard it shut behind him, but paid no mind.

"Okay, guess the Fighting Mountain still has some fight in him." Gold smiled, "Let's see about that prize."

_**And now ye know, the rest of the story.**_

_**Or do ye?**_

_**Have ye ever wondered just what gave Brian the idea he could beat a professional duelist?**_

_**Other than all the help I gave him of course.**_

_**Maybe it had a wee bit to do with his opponent from the Dark Tournament…**_

_**One of Yugi's old sparring partners steps up for Mr. Hokage to try and knock down.**_

_**I call it**_

_**Sorcerer of Dark Magic**_

_**Come, come and see the darkness before the dawn.**_


	5. Sorcerer of Dark Magic

_**You really would think that I would have chosen a duelist with a bit more focus for my Duelist of Darkness.**_

**_But while Brian Hokage lacked a definite theme for his original deck, he made up for it by showing a mastery over all manner of dark monsters._**

**_Of course, there was one creature of darkness that lay beyond even his abilities._**

_**Wouldn't it figure that would be the one he'd need to defeat to prove himself to me?**_

Sorcerer of Dark Magic

In the darkness of his throne room, Needlez was tapping his foot impatiently as he awaited news on the final three tournaments.

"Come on, come on…Feels like I've been here for weeks," He grumbled.

An orb of black energy rose before him, spreading until it formed into a window through which he could see the Dark Necrofear statue that he had vivified.

"Lord Needlez, I bring news of the final round for the Dark Tournament," The demoness cackled in a low voice.

"It's about time!" Needlez shouted. "Give me the details."

"Our first competitor is a young man named Brian Hokage. He wields a variety of monsters, but is quite clever with them." Necrofear reported.

"And his opponent?" Needlez asked.

Upon hearing his servant's answer, Needlez rubbed his chin with a smile.

"Ye don't say…No matter who loses this duel, I win!" Needlez grinned. "Let the finals commence."

--------------------------------------------------------

The cavern of the Dark Tournament was just that, dark. Very few torches lined the walls, which were formed of black rock much like obsidian or basalt. Most of the light was produced by the holographic monsters, and even then it cast an unholy glow over the field.

At the moment, Dark Necrofear stood in the center of a circle made of white chalk that had been marked on the ground.

"You've all performed admirably today…" She congratulated. "…And we are now down to our final two duelists. Allow me to present Brian Hokage."

A smatter of applause came from the spectators as Brian walked into the circle and slid his deck into place.

"I'm all ready," He reported.

"And his opponent is Arcana, the Mad Magician," Dark Necrofear finished with a sweep of her arm.

From the sidelines stepped a tall man wearing a red suit and top hat, his head lowered so as to hide his face.

"So, it's my turn in the spotlight once again?" He asked, raising his head.

Brian gave him a confused look. Arcana's face was covered by a black-and-white striped mask that obscured everything but his mouth. He smiled as he held up his arm, duel disk at the ready.

"Well, let the show begin," He declared, taking an offensive stance. "Before this act is over, I'll teach you a few lessons about real dueling!"

"I don't need dueling lessons," Brian responded as he activated his own disk. "The only getting schooled here is you!"

"Begin!" Dark Necrofear called out.

"DUEL!" Brian and Arcana shouted.

**Brian: 8000**

**Arcana: 8000**

"I'll take the first move," Brian declared as he drew six cards. "But before I do, you want to tell me why you're wearing that mask? Were you in an accident or something?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Arcana sneered. "But it's also surprisingly comfortable. I suspect everyone will wear one in a few years."

"Okay then…" Brian nodded as he put down his first card, "We'll see about that. I summon Giant Orc (2200/0) to start this duel!"

In a flurry of black sparks, a lumbering giant wearing a loin cloth and carrying a human bone over his shoulder appeared next to Brian. He grunted as he swung the weapon toward Arcana, who just laughed.

"Oh, I'm so frightened!" He chortled sarcastically. "Is that the best you can do?"

"No, but it's all I'm gonna do for now," Brian admitted.

Arcana took his draw with a dramatic flourish and set it into his disk.

"Then I'll start with a simple spell known as Card Trader," He declared.

Next to the magician rose a figure in a black cloak, half of his face hidden by a mask and the other by the brim of his hat.

"We'll get into what this does later. For now I'll also activate a card know as Ectoplasmer!" Arcana went on.

Next to the masked-figure appeared a glowing orb of green energy. It pulsated and writhed as though something inside it was shifting around. Brian's face twisted in disgust as Arcana took two more cards.

"One more card facedown," He finished. "And then I'll summon my Malice Doll of Demise (1600/1700)."

As a facedown card appeared, a heckling laughter filled the air as a crudely carved wooden puppet rose up form the floor. It carried a hatchet in its knotted fingers, and all the fingers on its left hand were tipped with tiny axes.

"Yikes, and I thought 'Child's Play' was scary…" Brian winced.

"Now then, let's begin!" Arcana shouted, ignoring Brian. "I end my turn, therefore activating the effect of Ectoplasmer. I must now tribute one monster, and by doing so one-half of its attack points will be dealt to you as damage!"

Brian gasped as Malice Doll fell over. From the back of the wooden toy emerged a blob of white energy that hovered over its former body. The goo that symbolized Ectoplasmer pulsed once, and the white blob flew forward and slammed into Brian's chest causing him to fall over with a gasp.

**Brian: 7200**

**Arcana: 8000**

"Geeze, that stuff is freezing!" Brian shouted as he wiped the remains of the white glow from his shirt.

"You're not used to using a duel disk, are you?" Arcana challenged. "This will be a treat."

"I'll get used to this by kicking your can," Brian declared as he drew. "I summon Vampire Lady (1550/1550) to the field!"

A fluttering of wings sounded as a flurry of bats swooped from above. They gathered together, slowly taking the form of a young woman, and from them emerged such a person. She wore a revealing purple dress, and had pale skin with white fangs sliding from below her upper lip.

"An orc and a vampire? What an odd mix," Arcana observed.

"This deck does that a lot. But what it lacks in focus it makes up for with pure power," Brian announced. "Vampire Lady, show him hospitality with kiss of death!"

The vampiress nodded and raised one hand to her lips. She gently blew on her outstretched fingers, and from her palm leapt a flurry of tiny bats! Arcana gasped as the winged mammals rushed toward him, biting him all over with their tiny fangs.

"And since she damaged your life points, Vampire Lady forces you to get rid of one card from your deck of the type I say," Brian continued. "And I'll say trap."

Arcana silently slid his deck loose and looked through it. He carefully removed a Magic Cylinders card and placed it into his graveyard. As he re-shuffled his deck afterwards though, he smirked a bit…

"Now, my Giant Orc…" Brian began.

"Won't do a thing, thanks to my Spellbinding Circle card!" Arcana interrupted. "This trap will paralyze your monster, stopping you from attacking with it."

As Giant Orc raised his weapon, a ring of light appeared around his waist and stopped him cold. The massive creature grunted in shock as all his muscles locked up at once, causing him to stand stock still.

"Nothing else I can do then…" Brian started anew. "I'll end my turn…"

"Which means Ectoplasmer now forces you to destroy one of your own monsters," Arcana chimed in. "If it's any consolation, you'll still do damage to me."

Brian frowned as he removed one of the cards from his disk's tray.

"Okay then Arcana. Since I don't have a choice I'll tribute my Giant Orc and deal you 1100 damage," Brian shouted. "Orc, time to relieve some tension!"

The Orc's body collapsed as the green blob let out a pulse of energy. From the form of the monster rose a smoky-white version of it, minus the club. It grunted angrily as it bull-rushed Arcana and slammed a fist into his chest. The masked performer let out a shout of pain as he stumbled backward from the attack. The body of the orc shattered apart as its spirit vanished.

**Brian: 7200**

**Arcana: 5350**

"That was…One of the strongest hits I've taken from my own card…" Arcana grunted as he drew. "But it won't stop this. Return to me!"

The wooden body on Arcana's field began to glow. It cackled as it stood back up, hefting its cleaver over one shoulder.

"What the heck?" Brain gasped.

"Surprised? Ectoplasmer works by drawing the soul out of a monster and using it to attack," Arcana explained. "Most monsters fear its touch, but Malice Doll simply loves it because it doesn't have a soul! While my spell may mean death for most creatures, Malice Doll just takes a turn to recover its energy, then comes right back."

"That's a pretty good combo, I'll admit!" Brian nodded, rubbing his chin. "But what good does it do? In the end, I'm the one that does the most damage."

"Are you now? Let's test that," Arcana grinned. "Malice Doll, attack his Vampire Lady with cleaver heaver!"

The wicked toy laughed once more as its arm began to spin around the shoulder, carrying the ax with it. It brought the limb to a stop, releasing the weapon. The deadly projectile flew forward and found its way into the Vampire Lady's stomach, causing her to cry out in pain before vanishing into a cloud of dust.

"Next I'll set one monster facedown," Arcana finished, a hidden monster appearing next to Malice Doll. "And now my doll will do what he does best."

The orb of energy shone once more, and another blob of white sludge burst from the toy and slammed into Brian. The young man groaned as the chill invaded his body, and rubbed his limbs as it faded away.

**Brian: 6350**

**Arcana: 5350**

Brian gritted his teeth as he drew his card.

"Okay, not enjoying that…" Brian grunted as he looked at his card. "But I won't lose because of one card."

"Oh really? I'll have you know that I almost beat my last major opponent with this spell," Arcana taunted. "Now what was his name? Yugi something…"

"_He's bluffing, he must be,"_ Brian thought as he took a card. _"If this clown almost beat Yugi it would have made major news."_

"I summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (1800/700)," Brian called out.

The sound of chanting filled the room and a young monk in blue robes and a green vest stepped out onto the field. He wore a wooden mask over half his face, and carried a chain of prayer beads which he periodically shook in time with his chant.

"Okay Kycoo, get his facedown monster with Lotus Sutra surge!" Brian commanded.

The monk increased the volume of his chant, shaking his beads harder now. Glowing characters of the Chinese alphabet appeared around the facedown monster, which began to shimmer with a strange light…

From the back of the card burst a small skeleton in purple robes, wielding a scythe in one hand. He hovered over the ground laughing as he swept his weapon through all the symbols and dispersed them.

"My Spirit Reaper (300/200) is immune to death by battle," Arcana explained as Brian frowned. "You won't hit me that easily."

"Oh yeah? I set a card facedown," Brian stated, sliding the card into his disk. "And since I end my turn here, I have no choice but to use Kycoo for your spell. Take this!"

Kycoo's body shimmered, and from his body fled a blob of white substance shaped like a lotus pod. It flew over Arcana's head and shattered apart, raining ghostly petals onto the magician which sizzled like acid as they touched his flesh. Kycoo's body vanished as his spirit shattered, and Brian nodded his head.

**Brian: 6350**

**Arcana: 4550**

Arcana drew, and his Malice Doll glowed for a moment before standing back up. It laughed once again as it hefted up its weapon with a twisted smile.

"He's wide open, attack directly my Malice Doll!" Arcana ordered.

The doll began to spin its arm once more, and released its ax. Brian calmly took a card from his hand and placed it into his graveyard. As he did so, a small ball of brown fur jumped in front of the hatchet and took the blow, falling to the ground with a pathetic squeak.

"Kuriboh stops one attack, no matter how strong," Brian remembered with a smile. "Better luck next time."

"Hmph…You're the one that needs luck," Arcana growled. "I end my turn, and turn Malice Doll into ectoplasm again. Fire!"

The doll toppled over once more, spilling out its soul into an orb of white ooze. The goop flew at Brian, who shivered once more as the 800 points of damage were drawn from his body.

**Brian: 5550**

**Arcana: 4550**

"Nice, now to break up your combo," Brian groaned as he swung his arm out. "I activate Disappear!"

The facedown card lifted, and an eerie glow lit up Arcana's grave slot. He looked at his disk with a confused expression as Brian held up his trap.

"It's simple. This trap removes one card in your graveyard from the game," Brian said as he pointed at the remains of the doll. "and the one I choose is your Malice Doll of Demise. Begone!"

Arcana gasped as the body of the doll shattered, while its ectoplasmic energy flew form his graveyard and dispersed into the air. The card was ejected from his grave, and the grumbling entertainer pocketed it in his jacket.

"Now my turn officially begins, so I draw," Brian said as he took his card. "And I'll summon my Pitch-Black Warwolf (1600/800)!"

A howl sounded around the room, and from the shadows at the edge of the arena emerged a black-furred werewolf in a brown cape carrying a black sword. The wolf howled as Brian took another card from his hand and set it into his disk.

"I'll also use my Mystical Space Typhoon to get rid of Ectoplasmer once and for all," Brian continued, a blast of wind splattering the green orb and soaking the area around Arcana with green slime. "And now that I don't need to worry about it anymore, I end my turn."

Arcana drew his card with a short snarl. The card made a snapping noise as it left his disk, and he looked it over.

"_Fine then, you took care of the pre-show,"_ Arcana said to himself. _"Now let's bring out the main attraction."_

"I activate the effect of Card Trader," Arcana declared, placing one of his cards back on top of his disk. "By shuffling one card from my hand back to my deck, I can draw a new card in its place."

The masked stranger from Arcana's card took a deck out of his robes and began to shuffle it. Arcana mimicked the action, smirking as he shuffled his own deck.

"_Of course, this kid won't have any reason to suspect me,"_ Arcana said to himself. _"So that means that he won't notice my trick shuffling…"_

He smiled as he carefully shuffled his cards, eyes on the back of each one. He stopped as a single card with a small cut in the top left corner wound up on top of his deck.

"_Perfect!'_ He thought as he put the deck back and drew the marked card. _"Now I just need the sacrifices."_

"I'll set one monster in defense mode, and that's it," Arcana chose as he slid a card into his disk.

The monster appeared facedown next to Spirit Reaper. Brian gave it a suspicious look as he drew his own card.

"Okay then," He muttered. "Warwolf, attack the monster he just set with hunter's blade!"

The wolf charged forward, and from Arcana's card jumped a large tomato with a wicked grin and yellow eyes. It stuck out its tongue at Brian, just before the wolf-man struck it down with a well placed cut. The fruit burst apart, scattering seeds all over the ground. From those seeds emerged a black smoke which floated over Arcana's field.

"That was my Mystic Tomato(1400/1100)," Arcana recited as he removed his deck from its holder and fanned out the cards. "Since you destroyed it, I can now summon any dark monster I want as long as it has less than 1500 attack points. So let's bring in another Mystic Tomato!"

The black smoke shaped itself into a large orb, which dropped to the ground and dispersed. As the smoke cleared, a second of the evil plants now sat next to Spirit Reaper, and both of them gave a chilling laugh. Brian felt a shiver go up his spine as he took another card from his hand.

"I'll set this card facedown and end my turn," he declared.

Arcana drew a fourth card, snickering as he removed both of the monsters that sat on his disk.

"Now let the show begin!" He intoned, slamming the card into place and throwing his hands out. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the ultimate spellcaster: DARK MAGICIAN (2500/2100)!"

"What!" Brian shouted.

Both of Arcana's monsters vanished into a burst of black energy, and from the energy emerged the world-famous monster. But this one was remarkably different from the one used by Yugi Mutou: This one was dressed in red robes instead of purple, with a shock of white hair visible beneath his hood. A maddened gleam shone in his eyes as his face twisted into a maniacal sneer.

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"Holy crap…Didn't expect that," Needlez gasped, staring at the monster. "This Arcana fellow has the same signature card as Yugi, and he summoned it so easily."

Needlez rubbed his chin, and smirked to himself as he watched Dark Magician sneer at Brian.

"This is a treat indeed. If Arcana proves effective he would indeed be my ideal Duelist of Darkness," the Scotsman thought aloud.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"_No way, that's a real Dark Magician!"_ Brian fretted to himself.

"Now my mighty sorcerer, dark magic attack!" Arcana commanded.

The wizard swung his staff forward, charging a point of green energy on the tip. Brian hurriedly pointed to one of his facedown cards, causing it to flip over and project the image of three women in blue robes before him.

"Not even Dark Magician can hurt me if I activate Waboku!" Brian interrupted, the blast of green energy from Dark Magician spiraling to the ceiling as the priestesses waved it off.

Warwolf seemed quite relieved upon being rescued, its shoulders slumping as it took a deep breath. Arcana just waved one hand and pointed to Brian.

"Then take your move," he invited. "We wouldn't want the audience to be denied a good show anyway."

Brian drew another card, and smiled upon seeing it.

"I'll set this monster facedown, and move Pitch-Black Warwolf to defense mode," he said clearly as a hiding monster appeared next to the wolf, which crouched down to all fours. "That's all for my turn."

Arcana just scoffed as he drew his own card. He looked at his second Spirit Reaper with some disdain, and smiled as he put it back on top of his deck.

"I'll use the effects of Card Trader again, and shuffle the card I just drew back in," Arcana said, taking his deck and shuffling the cards around in his hands.

He placed them back after making sure that the top card had a small nick in the top-right corner.

"Now I draw again," he smiled as he took the card off his pile. "Why just look at this! I drew my Thousand Knives spell card."

"Thousand Knives?" Brian asked.

"It's a simple card that destroys one of your monsters as long as I have at least one Dark Magician," Arcana instructed as his monster produced a pair of sharp blades from under his robes. "I think I'll have him deal with your facedown monster."

The magician cackled with glee as he tossed the two knives forward. They landed right in front of their intended target, flipping over to reveal an emaciated creature with orange skin. It seemed confused by the presence of the knives…

Right up until a thousand more knives plunged from the ceiling and skewered it in every possible place on its body. The monster collapsed with a moan before shattering apart.

"A Newdoria (1200/800)? Hoping to destroy my best monster I bet," Arcana taunted. "Well too bad. I summon Illusory Gentleman (1500/1600)!"

A cane fell from above, and was caught by a man dressed in an orange tuxedo. He looked up, showing he had only one eye which took up the entire space his face would have been, and bowed deeply.

"_How did he draw exactly what he needed again?"_ Brian wondered as Arcana pointed right at him. _"Uh oh, worry about that later!"_

"Illusory Gentleman, attack his canine with hypnotic gaze!" Commanded the entertainer.

The tuxedoed monster aimed his eye at Brian's creature, and the lupine let out a growl. The eye of the gentleman flashed purple, as did Warwolf's eyes before it fell over and began snoring. Brian almost fell over from embarrassment as his monster faded from view, curled up like a happy dog having a dream.

"And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for…" Arcana intoned. "Dark Magician, dark magic attack!"

A spark of green light flew forth from the staff of Arcana's strongest monster. Brian screamed as his vision went photo-negative for a moment and he fell to his knees.

**Brian: 3050**

**Arcana: 4550**

Arcana was laughing wildly as Brian pushed himself back up. He pointed at the teen with a satisfied grin as continued to laugh.

"You're finished kid! You never stood a chance against the true Master of the Dark Magician!" Arcana proudly announced. "Give it up and go home, the only person ever to beat me was Yugi Mutou himself!"

"You don't win that easy Arcana," Brian groaned as he reached for his deck. "If you're done with your turn, I'll show what I can do."

Arcana just waved one hand, allowing Brian took take his draw.

"My deck specializes with tricky effects. One card can reverse the whole situation," Brian stated as he held up the card he had drawn. "So first, I'll take care of your back-up draws with my Heavy Storm card!"

A powerful blast of wind surrounded the field, picking up the masked man and slamming into the wall. The figure groaned and slid to the floor, shattering apart as he did.

"_Like I needed that anymore,"_ Arcana thought.

Brian's next words made him realize he was very wrong.

"Now I activate Snatch Steal, so I take control of your Dark Magician!" Was the declaration.

"NO!" Arcana screamed as a wily looking thief jumped into the body of his monster.

Dark Magician looked confused before it walked across the field and spun around to face his former master with a look of malice in his eyes.

"Let's see how you like it," Brian smiled. "Dark Magician, I've always wanted to say this, dark magic attack!"

Arcana and Illusory Gentleman both screamed as the attack struck dead-on, blowing Arcana's second monster into bits. Brian removed the Dark Magician's card from his disk and threw it back to Arcana.

**Brian: 3050**

**Arcana: 3550**

Arcana gave Brian a confused look as the teen explained, "By the way, so I won't have to give you life points when your turn rolls around, I'll tribute your favorite monster in order to summon mine."

A column of squeaking bats suddenly burst up around the magician, who closed his eyes as all view of him was obscured. The bats cleared away, leaving a black coffin with a golden cross on the front. The cross fell to the ground, and the lid of the casket slid open to reveal a young man with pale skin, dressed in a black tuxedo and red cape. He smiled, showing off a pair of fangs as he turned to Brian and bowed.

"Meet my Vampire Lord (2000/1500)," Brian introduced. "And now, I end my turn."

Arcana drew his card, and set it solemnly onto his disk. A facedown monster appeared and he waved one hand to Brian.

"Not so talkative anymore, huh?" Brian asked as he drew. "I'll summon one of my own Mystic Tomatoes (1400/1100)."

For the third time that match, the frightening plant jumped onto the field. This ones grin was a bit goofier than Arcana's had been, but it still had a gleam in its eyes that suggested ill-tidings for its foe.

"Mystic Tomato, seed spray attack!" Brian ordered. "Attack his facedown monster!"

The tomato took a deep breath and spat out a mouthful of seeds covered in black juice. They struck against the facedown card, revealing an aging wizard in purple robes who fell over with a gasp. Before he shattered, he cried out a strange word, and Vampire Lord grabbed his chest in pain.

"You fool, that was my Old Vindictive Magician (450/600)! Now I can destroy one of your monsters, so Vampire Lord dies!" Arcana shouted as the nosferateu vanished in a puff of smoke.

His job completed, the old man also fell over and vanished. Brian didn't seem worried as he nodded.

"I'll end my turn then," he chose.

Arcana drew once more, and began chuckling again as he showed Brian the card he had.

"I activate Premature Burial and give up 800 life points to revive my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" Arcana announced, spreading his arms wide.

A circle of red light shone on the ground, and from it burst the red-robed Dark Magician. His clothing was caked with black mud, and his staff had a thin crack running along it, but other than that the monster seemed fine. Arcana then took another card from his hand, and set it into his disk, allowing it to appear facedown next to his magician.

"Next I'll set this trap facedown…" Arcana began. "But the only reason I'm letting you know it's a trap is because I'm feeding it and my Premature Burial to Emergency Provisions."

A mouth appeared next to the Dark Magician and inhaled sharply, swallowing down the red light and the facedown card (Magical Hats). The mud dried and flaked off of Dark Magician's clothing, and its staff was magically repaired as its ties to Premature Burial faded away.

"Now my magician, destroy his tomato!" Arcana yelled at the top of his lungs.

The fruit gave Brian a worried look right before it was blasted into a pulpy mess by a bolt of magic. Seeds sprayed all over Brian's field, and he began searching through his deck.

"You know about Mystic Tomato's effect, so I won't bother explaining it," Brian grumbled. "I summon Wall of Illusion (1000/1800) to the field."

A frightening image emerged as the seed faded away. It was a wall made of skin and muscles with the face of a young woman stitched into the center. The framework for the wall was made of bone, and the woman's face gave a wicked grin.

"Fine, I'll end my turn then," Arcana declared.

"_And I'll finish you next turn,"_ he continued in his mind. _"I can see the mark on my next card. It's my Beckon to the Dark spell card, which will destroy any of your monsters. Then I can attack Dark Magician for the win!"_

Brian drew, and a flurry of bats exploded from behind him. Arcana gasped as the flying rodents swirled around the field, and from them dropped Vampire Lord (2000/1500) smiling at Arcana with his fangs.

"What? I destroyed the monster!" Arcana protested.

"With a card effect. When you do that, he comes back on my next turn," Brian cut him off.

"Fine, he can't beat my Dark Magician," Arcana grumbled.

"Who said I wanted to beat it?" Brian wondered as he held up another card from his hand. "I activate Brain Control, giving 800 points to take your Dark Magician again!"

A withered brain appeared next to Brian, and extended a pair of hands which grabbed hold of the spellcaster. Arcana gasped in horror, but reluctantly took the card from his disk and roughly threw it at Brian's face. The teen snapped it out of mid-air, and then noticed the corner of the card.

"What the…Hey, this card is marked!" Brian exclaimed, spotting the small but perfect cut in one of the top corners. "Arcana, have you been cheating this whole time?"

"Um…Well…No?" Arcana sputtered.

Based on the glare Brian gave him, it was clear that the teen didn't believe his opponent.

"I was just going to finish you with my Wall of Illusion…" Brian stated as he placed another card into his disk. "But I think if you had the nerve to carve up one of your own cards, a few of my cards deserve a chance to carve you up! I activate my Premature Burial to revive Mystic Tomato..."

The red light formed on Brian's field this time, and from the floor sprouted the goofy tomato, a vine retracting into the ground from whence it had come.

"But now I tribute it and my Wall of Illusion to summon my rarest card!" Brian roared, an actual echoing from behind him as the two monsters vanished. "Rise up my Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)!"

"R…Red-Eyes Black-" Arcana stammered.

He stopped short as a massive dragon with scales black as night rose up behind Brian. It cast its red eyes upon the cowering human before it, and growled deeply as it spread its wings.

"You cut your cards to mark them so you could claim a dishonest victory," Brian growled. "Well let me show what I do to cheaters that I catch! Vampire Lord, lead the charge with children of the night!"

The vampire opened wide his cape, and from it burst a plethora of shrieking bats. Arcana screamed in horror as they descended on him, biting him all over with their little fangs.

"I won't bother with the vampire's effect seeing as this duel is over anyway. Red-Eyes, inferno fire blast!" Brian continued.

The dragon roared in anger and launched forth a barrage of black and red fire. Arcana fell to the ground as the flames struck him, knocking even more of his life points off.

He got to his feet, just in time to hear Brian order, "Dark magic attack!"

"Not again!" Arcana moaned.

A blast of green energy sent him flying backwards, landing outside of the ring. Arcana moaned in pain as Dark Necrofear strode into the center of the arena.

"The winner is Brian Hokage," She cooed, watching as Brian looked at the marked magician card.

He walked to Arcana and set the card by its owner.

"You can keep this, I wouldn't want folks to think I was trying to use a marked card," The teen offered.

The fallen magician let out another moan, but placed one hand over his prized card. Brian turned to Dark Necrofear, who gesture toward a door set in the wall.

"Through that door lies your prize. Fare well, Brian," Offered the fiend.

Brian walked over the door with an amiable smile.

"Thanks, awesome costume by the way," he congratulated. "Whoever that guy that's funding this is, he really went all out."

"Thank you," Necrofear blushed as Brian walked through the portal.

------------------------------------------------------

"He's clever, he's a skilled duelist, and he always has a way to catch you off guard," Needlez wondered as he watched Brian begin his trek. "Now if it weren't for that pesky sense of justice he has…Ah well, that's why mind control was invented."

Needlez laughed a bit as he looked to the last two orbs.

"What the heck is taking these so long?" He asked.

_**Brian proved to be a bigger thorn than expected.**_

_**But they say beggars can't be choosers. Wish I could have picked Arcana now though, he wouldn't have betrayed me.**_

_**But I digress…**_

_**Up next is Tim Hokage, the Duelist of Fire and a so-called comedian.**_

_**His foe fought back with blazing fury, and it is all captured in the next chapter**_

_**Molten Destruction**_

_**When I take over the world, red heads are the first to go.**_


	6. Molten Destruction

_**Ugh…**_

_**I personally wasn't fond of my fire duelist, but what could be done?**_

_**I planned to employ the strongest duelists I could, and he made it.**_

_**Still if I had the chance to undo one mistake from the many lifetimes I'd lived through…**_

_**I'd make sure that I had only hired one Hokage brother!**_

Molten Destruction

Needlez was chuckling to himself as he thumbed through a pocket novel that he had pulled from inside his jacket.

"Oh…Ms. Rowling, you know nothing of real magic…" he muttered to himself as he turned the page.

He paused as he noticed small wisps of smoke beginning to curl from the top edge of the book. Looking up from his story, he noticed a red orb of flames hovering nearby, singing the corners of his novel.

"The fire tournament is near it's conclusion?" He wondered aloud. "It's about time!"

He tossed the book aside and the flames faded to reveal the image of Spirit of Fire standing in front of him.

"This better be good news," Needlez ordered.

"The fire tournament is near its end," the horned beast reported.

"I gathered that much, who the competitors?" Needlez queried.

"One is called Timothy Hokage, the other is Eric O'Leary," Stated the monster. "Will you be watching?"

"Aye, I believe I will," Needlez nodded. "Begin the match."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The fire tournament's chamber had been well done. Clusters of red crystal were stuck to the walls, catching the light of no less than fifty torches running along each wall. The temperature in the room was at least twenty degrees hotter than the outside, and the floor was covered with cracks through which red light seeped into the room. With the exception of large circle in the very center, which was made of smooth, black rock. In the middle of this stood Spirit of Fire, who raised his hands to silence the chattering duelists in the cave with him.

"Well, you have done very well," he declared. "Too bad there can be only one winner. Would Mr. Hokage and Mr. O'Leary please move into the ring?"

Tim had a grin on his face as he stepped over the edge of the circle. Looking across, he saw his foe was a boy about his own age, wearing a red jacket with a black t-shirt, plus gray pants and white shoes. His hair was black, and his eyes gray like his pants, and he was also smiling.

"So, I'm almost the winner here, huh?" Asked the boy (obviously the Eric O'Leary that had been reffered to earlier). "Just one more guy, then I win right?"

"That is correct," Spirit of fire confirmed.

Eric looked over to Tim, and his own smile wavered a little.

"Okay, I'm smiling because I'm know I'm about to win, why are you smiling?" Eric asked.

"'Cause I know you're wrong," Tim answered.

"Oh yeah? I'm not just some average fire bug you know," Eric scoffed, holding his cards. "My deck is hotter than Hell!"

"My deck's hotter than Jack's suicide level buffalo wings, now in six convenient locations in the Greater Chicago area," Tim answered as he loaded his duel disk. "Remember folks, if it ain't spicy, it ain't worth Jack."

---------------------------------------

Needlez seemed a bit distraught.

"I can't whether or not that was joke," he fretted.

-----------------------------------------

Eric seemed confused as he placed his own cards into place.

"Corporate sponsor," Tim explained.

"This promises to be entertaining," Spirit of Fire observed. "BEGIN!"

Tim and Eric squared off, the two of them pulling five cards off of their respective decks.

**Tim: 8000**

**Eric: 8000**

"So what are you waiting for red head? Make your move!" Eric demanded.

"Do I look like Carrot Top to you?" Tim retorted as he drew a sixth card, "I know I'm not _that_ annoying."

Tim looked over his hand, and placed a card onto his disk.

"I summon Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000) in attack mode." Tim announced.

From the ground in front of him burst a serpentine creature! It had a dragon-like face, and was literally covered in flames. It let out a low growl, and narrowed its eyes at Eric.

"Next, one card facedown. That's all." Tim finished as he put a card into his disk.

The card materialized in front of Tim, and Eric smirked as he reached for his deck.

"Okay then, it's my…ACK!" Eric was cut off as Tim's dragon suddenly spat a fireball right into his face!

**Tim: 8000**

**Eric: 7500**

"Oh yeah, my dragon's ability." Tim smirked, "Every time I have an end phase, you lose 500 life points. Sucks for you, doesn't it?"

"Very funny." Eric muttered sarcastically as he drew, "I'll summon my Molten Zombie (1600/400) in attack mode!"

Eric placed a card on his disk, and a pool of lava spurt out of the floor. The molten rock began to congeal, and grow. Soon, it formed into a man shaped blob of magma, which was dripping red hot lava all over the floor.

"Zombie, your target is his obnoxious dragon!" Eric shouted, "Take it down with pyro grip."

The molten monster stumbled forward, extending its arms toward Tim's beast.

"That would have worked really well, if it wasn't for Rush Recklessly." Tim stated as his facedown card lifted, "Which I activate right now to boost my dragon by 700 attack points."

The Solar Flare Dragon (2200/1000) roared as its flames increased in intensity. It shot forward like a bullet, and ran right through zombie! The creature moaned, and shattered.

**Tim: 8000**

**Eric: 6900**

"You're not off to a very good start, are you?" Tim taunted.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn punk." Eric sneered as he placed a card into his disk.

----------------------------------------------

"He's an awful cocky little…" Needlez muttered.

He thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Ah well, if he wins I could care less," Needlez decided.

----------------------------------------------

The new card materialized in front of Eric. Tim just drew a new card as his dragon (1500/1000) fell back to its original stats.

"Well, two heads are better than one." Tim stated as he slapped another card onto his tray, "So I'll summon my second Solar Flare Dragon."

Another serpentine dragon, identical to the first, burst out of the ground. The two creatures roared in unison as they glared at their opponent.

"And now, my first dragon will attack you directly." Tim declared.

The first of the beasts roared, and flew toward Eric. The boy smirked however, and his facedown card lifted.

"I activate: Call of the Haunted!" Eric shouted, "Letting me bring back my Molten Zombie in attack mode!"

A purple mist floated from the card, and from the mist emerged the man made of molten stone. He let out a strange gurgling noise, and Eric swiftly plucked a card from his deck.

"Now, when he's summoned from the graveyard, Molten Zombie lets me draw a card." Eric explained, "Simple, huh?"

"About as simple as me calling off my attack." Tim nodded, "Since a new monster hit the field, I'm allowed to."

The dragon growled, and floated back to Tim's side.

"But now I think I'll end my turn, meaning you lose 500 life points for each of my dragons!" Tim announced.

The two monsters roared, and each shot a fireball toward Eric. Eric screamed as the flames struck him in the chest.

**Tim: 8000**

**Eric: 5900**

"This is too easy." Tim laughed.

"You know what they say when something seems too good to be true?" Eric asked.

"No, what?" Tim responded with a confused look.

"It usually is!" Eric shouted as he drew, "Especially when I summon Flame Ruler (1500/1600)!"

Eric slammed the card onto his disk, and a fresh burst of fire ignited next to his zombie. From the flames appeared a well tanned man, with blue hair and a burning red robe and blue pants. The man let out a laugh, and a ring of fire began to burn on the floor around him.

"And now, Molten Zombie will attack your first dragon!" Eric declared with a sweep of his arm.

"Um…he can't." Tim said.

"Why the Hell not!?" Eric shouted, balling his fists.

"Because Solar Flare Dragon can't be attacked if I have another pyro-type monster on my side of the field." Tim explained with a shrug.

"SO!" Eric fumed.

"Despite what his name implies, my monster is a pyro not a dragon. And the same is true with the second. Basically, as long as I have two on the field, they protect each other." Tim broke into a smile, "You can't attack either of them."

"…" Eric's jaw dropped, "Your kidding."

Tim just shook his head.

"Then I'll lay one card down and end my turn." Eric sighed as he placed another card into his disk.

The card materialized in front of him, and Tim drew. Both of his dragons growled eagerly, as if they couldn't wait to attack Eric again.

"I summon Raging Flame Sprite (100/200)." Tim stated as he put a third card onto his disk.

A _tiny_ fire ball appeared next to the dragons. From the flames emerged a small pixy girl dressed in a brown outfit. She carried a tiny wand, the tip of which was on fire.

"And I'll have my flame sprite use her special ability to attack you directly." Tim yawned.

The little pixy giggled, and waved her wand. A barrage of embers flew from it, and struck Eric in the face. He blinked, and batted them away.

**Tim: 8000**

**Eric: 5800**

"Oooh, 100 life points lost. I'm _so_ scared." Eric said sarcastically.

"And now she gains 1000 attack points since she successfully attacked your life points." Tim finished.

The sprite (1100/200) laughed as a fireball began to orbit around her body.

"Okay, now I'm pissed." Eric growled, "So I'll activate Offerings to the Doomed to make you pay with a Solar Flare Dragon!"

Eric's card turned over, and a table covered in a lavish feast appeared. One of the dragons sniffed curiously, and floated toward the delicacies sitting on the table. It leaned down to take a bite…

But the food vanished! A set of chains sprung from the table, and tied down the shocked monster. Out of the card, stepped a man in black robes, who lifted an ornate dagger over the helpless creature. The dragon struggled against the chains, but to no avail as the dagger came down on its head. The dragon burst into digital fragments, along with the table. The man however turned to Eric, who nodded. The man then vanished.

"I lay a card down and end my turn." Tim grumbled as he placed a card in his disk, "And that was an ass thing to do."

The other dragon agreed apparently as, rather than shoot a fireball, it flew right at Eric and took a bite out his arm! Behind the dragon appeared a new facedown card.

**Tim: 8000**

**Eric: 5300**

"You think having your pet snakes shoot fire at me has been a barrel of laughs!" Eric retorted.

"It has for me!" Tim chuckled, "Now draw your card so we can continue."

------------------------------------------------

"Does he turn everything into a joke?" Needlez grumbled. "I'm starting to hope he loses this one, just so I won't have to put up with him."

------------------------------------------------

"Sorry, I can't." Eric shrugged, "Offerings to the Doomed requires I skip my draw phase, so I can just get to the fun part. I summon The Thing in the Carter (1000/1200)."

Eric placed the card on his disk, and a hole that was roughly the size of a manhole cover opened up in front of him. A shadowy claw reached out of the hole, and waved around as if looking for a target.

"And next…" Eric began.

"I activate Secret Barrel!" Tim interrupted.

"Do what now?" Eric gasped as Tim's card flipped over.

"Basically, you take 200 points of damage for every card in your hand and on the field." Tim explained as nine miniature cannonballs flew from his card.

Eric screamed once again as the shots peppered his body.

**Tim: 8000**

**Eric: 3500**

"I'll make you pay for that!" Eric screamed, "Thing, attack his sprite with crater claws!"

"Are you a moron?" Tim shouted, "My sprite is stronger!"

The shadowy hand lunged toward Tim's monster, which swooped upward. The pixy pointed her staff right at it, and the shadow was engulfed in flames. The shade vanished, and the crater did as well, but Eric was now snickering.

**Tim: 8000**

**Eric: 3400**

"Fool, I wanted my monster to be destroyed." Eric explained as he took another card from his hand, "Now I can summon a pyro type from my hand! This way, I get a stronger monster without losing any of my current attack force."

Eric placed the card on his disk, and a new creature materialized. It looked like a large blue and red ball, with a pair of dragon wings coming from it, as well as a pair of dragon heads!

"That has to be the ugliest thing I've seen since Rosie O'Donnel got her own show." Tim commented, "And that's saying something."

"Don't remind me." Eric said with a disgusted grimace, "But thankfully, my Twin-Headed Fire Dragon (2200/1700), while not the prettiest monster…"

"If you dare say it has a 'great personality', I will walk across this arena and smack you." Tim threatened.

"Will you stop interrupting me!" Eric shouted.

"Not likely." Tim answered.

Eric took a few deep breaths, and smiled.

"In case you didn't notice, it's still my battle phase." He said, "Flame Ruler, wipe out his sprite!"

The tan humanoid leapt forward, and slammed one fist against the tiny fairy. She yelped in pain, and vanished in a burst of fire.

"Now let's try this again. Molten Zombie, your target is his dragon!" Eric continued.

The molten monster stumbled forward, and embraced Tim's last monster. The dragon roared, the heat obviously too much even for it, and shattered.

"And finally, my dragon will hit you directly! Pyro-cataclysm!" Eric shouted.

The two-headed monster let loose a blast of fire from each of its mouths. Tim let out a shout of surprise as the flames struck him, and knocked him to the ground!

**Tim: 4300**

**Eric: 3400**

"Your move." Eric offered as Tim got back to his feet.

"Then I'll draw." Tim declared as he did so, "And then cast Premature Burial."

Tim slid the card into his disk, and an eerie red light began to pour from the ground.

"I pay 800 life points to bring back a Solar Flare Dragon." Tim continued as his counter ticked down.

**Tim: 3500**

**Eric: 3400**

From the ground burst the flaming serpent, which let out an angry hiss toward Eric. Eric looked about ready to pull his hair right out of his scalp.

"WHAT IS UP WITH YOU AND THESE STUPID DRAGONS!!!!" He raged, turning purple in the face from yelling.

"Don't worry, he won't be here long." Tim assured his opponent, "Especially when I summon Hand of Nephthys (600/600)."

Tim slid the card onto his disk, and a woman wearing a golden mask shaped like a bird's face appeared next to the dragon. She gently stroked the Dragon's snout, and a golden fire sprung up around the two creatures!

"What's happening?" Eric shouted.

"I'm using Hand of Nephthys special ability." Tim explained as he took his deck from the disk and looked through it, "I sacrifice her and one other monster so I can search my deck and summon my ultimate monster!"

Tim found what he was looking for, put his deck back, and slapped the card onto his disk.

"Behold: **The Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!**" Tim shouted, raising his arms over his head.

His two monsters vanished into the golden flames, and a pillar of the lustrous plasma shot from the floor. From the pillar emerged a giant bird made of gold, with a wingspan that spread from one side of the chamber to the other! She radiated heat and light, and was looking down on her opponent with a mischievous look in her eye.

"And she's gonna whup your ass." Tim promised.

"I think I just soiled myself." Eric squeaked.

"I don't blame you." Tim smiled, "Phoenix, take out his dragon!"

The bird let out a beautiful song, and then shot a blast of golden fire from her beak. The flames consumed Eric's two-headed monster faster than he could bat an eye.

**Tim: 3500**

**Eric: 3200**

"Now I'll set this facedown and end my turn." Tim decided as he placed one last card into his disk.

Eric just gulped as the card appeared. He shakily drew his next card, keeping his eyes locked on the phoenix. As he saw what he had drawn though, he immediately broke into a smile.

"Too bad for you, I just drew my own ultimate monster." Eric laughed, "And I have all that I need to summon him."

Eric quickly took Flame Ruler's card from his disk, and placed the new card down. Flame Ruler himself laughed, and the circle of flame around him flared up.

"Normally, I need to tribute two monsters to summon this guy." Eric explained as the flames grew, "But my Flame Ruler counts as a double sacrifice for any creature of fire."

The flames kept climbing, and then began to take shape. They formed into a vicious looking monster that resembled a centaur. However, this creature had a pair of flaming wings sprouting from his back, and his head resembled a lion's! He stood about the same size as the phoenix, and filled the entire room with an oppressive wave of heat.

"Meet my Infernal Flame Emperor (2700/1600)!" Eric called out, "And he's even badder than your phoenix."

-------------------------------------------------

"Holy crap!" Needlez exclaimed at the sight of the massive bonfire monster. "That'll toast him."

Needlez breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Tim cower a bit under the gaze of the beast.

"He wasn't kidding about the hotter than Hell line I guess," Needlez laughed.

-------------------------------------------------

Now it was Tim's turn to draw back in fear, as the giant beast glared down at him.

"And my emperor has an awesome ability." Eric continued as he moved his hand next to his graveyard, "As soon as I summon him, I can remove fire monsters from my graveyard to destroy spells and traps on the field. So I'll remove the Flame Ruler I just sacrificed to destroy your facedown card!"

The card was ejected from his disk, and Eric smiled as a spectral Flame Ruler appeared next to him. The ghost immediately burst into flames and flew toward Tim's facedown card, igniting it as he made contact. Tim gasped in horror as his Sakuretsu Armor card was destroyed.

"_So much for that."_ Tim fretted.

"Emperor, destroy his phoenix with Dante's inferno!" Eric ordered.

The fiery beast opened its mouth, and a wave of flames shot out. The phoenix screeched in terror as it was struck by the hellish attack and shattered.

"And now my Zombie will hit you directly." Eric finished as his other monster lurched forward.

Tim grunted as the molten creature tackled him, knocking him flat once again!

**Tim: 1600**

**Eric: 3200**

"That's all for my turn." Eric laughed, "But what are you gonna do? I just trashed your best monster, and I've got my best on the field."

Tim got back to his feet, panting in the heat as he drew. He smiled as he saw what had appeared in his hand.

"Just so you know Eric, I'm an expert when it comes to fire monsters." Tim chuckled a little, "I know everything your emperor can do…and more importantly what it can't do!"

Tim plugged a card into his disk, and a swirling black vortex appeared over head.

"Like come back from the graveyard." Tim finished, "Which is just where my Dark Hole will send it and your zombie!"

"OH NO!" Eric shouted as his monsters were drawn up into the black hole.

"Easy come, easy go." Tim smirked as he placed a card into his disk, "And easy comeback!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eric asked.

"You'll find out." Tim taunted as a horizontal card appeared before him, "In the meantime, I set one monster facedown and end my turn."

"I don't care what that monster is." Eric growled as he drew and placed another card onto his disk, "I summon my second Flame Ruler!"

Another burst of heat surrounded Eric, and a second Flame Ruler emerged onto the field.

"Attack his monster with flame ruling fist!" Eric shouted.

His monster leapt forward, eager to obey, and swung a blazing palm toward the back of the card. As it got close, the monster was revealed to be a young woman in purple robes, holding a staff tipped with a crescent moon. Flame Ruler slammed her to the floor, and she shattered into pieces, but Tim just smiled.

"That was a mistake, you flipped over my Magician of Faith (300/200)." Tim said as a card came from his graveyard, "So I get to revive one spell from my graveyard…"

"Not Dark Hole again!" Eric complained.

"You're right, it's not Dark Hole." Tim smiled as he turned the card to his opponent.

"Premature Burial?" Eric gasped, his eyes going wide as he burst into laughter, "You're gonna almost kill yourself for what?"

"Think about what's in my cemetery." Tim explained.

Eric stopped laughing as the image of Sacred Phoenix filled his mind.

"Oh crap." He muttered, "Umm…"

Eric frantically looked over his hand, but failed to see a way out.

"I end my turn." He sighed, his head lowering.

Tim drew, and placed Premature Burial into his disk. A golden flame ignited on his side of the field, and the Phoenix returned in a blaze of glory! She glared down at Eric, who cringed in fear even as Tim's life points fell.

**Tim: 800**

**Eric: 3200**

"Phoenix, destroy his Flame Ruler with sacred wing beat!" Tim ordered.

The phoenix waved her wings, and another blast of golden flame filled Eric's side of the field. Flame Ruler screamed in pain as it was immolated, and Eric fell to his knees from the blast of heat.

**Tim: 800**

**Eric: 2300**

Eric got back to his feet, just as another card appeared in front of Tim.

"I'm setting one card facedown, and ending my turn." Tim declared.

Eric drew, and he broke into a smile. He began to chuckle a little, then snicker, then laugh like a maniac as he saw what he had drawn.

"What's so funny?" Tim asked, growing concerned with his foe's eccentric behavior.

"I was just thinking of the look on your face after I do this." Eric shouted as he placed the card into his disk, "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, and use it to destroy your Premature Burial card!"

"No!" Tim shouted, "That means my phoenix…"

"Goes back to the cemetery!" Eric confirmed as a blast of wind surround the great bird.

The golden creature gave one last dying song, and burst into flames. She fell to the ground, leaving behind nothing but a small pile of ash.

"And now I'll summon another Molten Zombie!" Eric shouted as he put another card onto his tray, "After all, if one copy of a card helps, it never hurts to have two right?"

As he spoke, a second magma-man formed form the ground next to him. It shambled forward, it's non-existent eyes focused on Tim.

"And I end this by having my Zombie hit you directly!" Eric called out.

The zombie started toward Tim, but before it could reach the fire duelist a giant purple tube sucked it up!

"What!" Eric shouted.

"Sorry Eric, but my Magic Cylinder trap will redirect your zombie's attack to your life points!" Tim exclaimed as his pointed to his former facedown card.

A second tube appeared next to Tim, and the Zombie flew out of it like a cannonball! Eric didn't have time to make a sound before he was knocked right into the floor by his returned-via-airmail monster.

**Tim: 800**

**Eric: 700**

"Had enough?" Tim asked as Eric clambered back to a standing position.

"Never!" Eric shouted as he plugged his last card into his disk, "This facedown card should be able to handle anything you throw at me."

"Then I guess it's my turn." Tim said as he drew.

"_I've got this cold."_ Eric thought, _"If he tries to attack, I'll blast the monster right off the field with my Widespread Ruin trap. Then he'll have to take a direct attack from my zombie and lose the duel! And if he doesn't attack, I have a great chance of drawing something that will beat anything he might play in defense mode. After all, most fire monsters have low defense points…"_

Eric was shaken from his thoughts as a golden flame ignited around the entire field.

"What the…" Eric gasped.

"Do you know anything about phoenixes Eric?" Tim asked as a card came from his graveyard, "They are creatures from ancient myths that would burst into flames when it was time for them to die, and then be reborn from the ashes."

"So, your saying that phoenix of yours was immortal?" Eric guessed as Tim picked up the card.

"Right." Tim nodded, "But this one has a little bonus. You see, my phoenix will return to the field during the standby phase after she's destroyed by the effects of a spell, trap, or monster card, even if it was my own…"

"Like Premature Burial." Eric interrupted.

"Yes, as long as she wasn't taken out in a fight like she was against your Flame Lord. But when she comes back due to her own effect, my phoenix also destroys every spell and trap card on the field!" Tim shouted as he slammed the card onto his tray.

"Every spell and…" Eric muttered as he looked at his facedown trap, "Uh oh!"

A blast of heat filled the ring, followed by a glorious song. For the third time, the Sacred Phoenix ascended onto the field. She glared down at Eric, who could only stand open mouthed as his only chance at victory was reduced to a tiny speck of soot.

"Phoenix, destroy the zombie and the rest of his life points!" Tim ordered.

The phoenix shot a huge wave of golden flame from her mouth, and Eric and his monster both groaned and fell forward as the oppressive heat washed over them. The molten man shattered into fragments, and Eric's life point counter ticked down to nothing.

**Tim: 800**

**Eric: 0**

Eric groaned as he pushed himself back up to see Tim standing over him, offering a hand. Eric coughed a bit, but accepted the help.

"Guess I'm not as hot as I thought," he admitted.

"Nah, I'm just hotter," Tim assured him. "Good match."

Tim and Eric shook hands, and the dark-haired boy stepped out of the ring. As he did, Spirit of Fire came forward and lifted Tim's hand.

"Congratulations Mr. Hokage, you are Duelist of Fire!" Announced the chaos spirit. "Now then, you shall find your reward through the door over there…"

Tim followed the creature's gesture and spotted a door set in the wall with a small drawing of fire painted on it.

"Okay then…" he said as he walked toward the door.

He stopped, then spun around and faced toward the other duelists left in the room.

"Thank you, you've been a great audience! Tip your waitress, and good night!" Tim laughed before swinging the door open and marching through.

------------------------------------------------------

Needlez was massaging his temples after the results had been announced.

"Great, I've got myself a comedian…" He grumbled. "When I conquer Earth, red heads are the first to go, just so I get rid of that guy…And Carrot Top...And Bozo the clown…Hmm, maybe I should start making a list."

Needlez pulled out a pen and paper and began writing down names.

_**What was I thinking when I agreed to let that little…Comedian join with me?  
**_

_**Seriously, I must have been on something.**_

_**Ah well, it's in the past, and that can't be undone.**_

_**Besides, the light duelist I wound up with was actually worth something.**_

_**Join us next time to see Celeste's story in**_

_**Soul of the Pure**_

_**Seriously though, watch yer back Carrot Top.**_


	7. Soul of the Pure

_**I look back on my final choice for my Elemental Duelists: Celeste Hikari.**_

_**She was girl who chose angels as her deck theme, with some other light monsters for support.**_

_**I was surprised that she wasn't the one that led the betrayal. In fact, she was one of the last ones to join it.**_

_**I thought if I controlled even an angel duelist, I would control anyone for good.**_

_**But in the end she broke free, just like the others. And she and her monsters returned to their former glory.**_

_**But the duel she had to become a member of my team was a hoot! **_

Soul of the Pure

Needlez sighed as he waved one hand. The image from the fire tournament faded away, and he now turned to the next crystal.

"_Time to see just what these light duelists are capable of."_ He thought, waving one hand over his watch.

The crystal began to shimmer, and the image of the Soul of Purity and Light materialized before him. She winced as the sound of a scream echoed from outside the image, accompanied by a roar of thunder.

"Report." Needlez said calmly.

The Soul gasped, and turned to Needlez. She smiled as she checked to be sure no one was paying attention to her, and then saluted.

"The tournament of light is proceeding as planned Lord Needlez." The enchanted statue declared, "We're just waiting to decide our second finalist."

"That's good news." Needlez smiled, "Who's our first finalist?"

"A girl named Celeste Hikari." Soul explained, "And it looks like this duel is almost over…"

Another scream echoed, followed by several cheers from the audience.

"Our second finalist is John Peter." Soul smiled sweetly.

"That overly religious kook?" Needlez sighed, "The one who was trying to convert all the other duelists while in the waiting room?"

"I'm afraid so sir." Soul sighed.

"Well…I suppose beggars can't be choosers." Needlez grumbled, "Just tell me the girl isn't the religious type."

"Oh she's not, don't worry about that." Soul smiled, "Now I'd better announce the last round."

"Aye, you do that." Needlez ordered, "I'll just watch."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The chamber of the light tournament was simple. The walls had been smoothed out, reflecting the light from the torches and illuminating the entire room. The ring for duels was marked on the floor by a perfect circle of quartz crystals which served to reflect and amplify the light even more.

In the center of the circle John smiled as he stood up. He had gotten down on his knees after the duel, and muttered a quick prayer of thanks for his victory, and now he dusted off his slacks. Soul smiled as she stepped into the circle designated as the arena, and gestured to John.

"Let's have a big round of applause for Mr. Peter, eh folks?" She smiled.

A polite smattering of applause echoed across the cave, and Soul pointed to Celeste.

"Ms. Hikari, if you'd join us please." Soul requested.

Celeste nodded, and stepped into the circle. John just gave her a smug smile, and Soul pulled out a silver coin.

"Now then, who wants to call it?" Soul asked.

"I will allow Celeste to." John offered.

"You're too kind." Celeste muttered, "Heads."

Soul tossed the coin into the air, and it clattered to the floor. She looked down at it, and shook her head.

"Tails, John takes the first move." Soul declared as she stepped out of the circle, "And with that, you two may begin once you've each shuffled your decks."

Celeste and John both removed their decks from their disks and began to shuffle, John just smiling again as the two of them exchanged and shuffled each others decks as well.

"I've been looking forward to this." John smirked, "I truly admire those angels of yours, Celeste."

"Well, um, thanks. I…Wish I knew what you were using," Celeste commented as they took their decks back.

"Didn't you see the other duels I was in?" John asked.

"Nope, sorry, I was absorbed in a book between duels." She explained, gesturing towards a small book sticking out of the bag hanging from her shoulder as they walked a safe distance away from one another and fired the holo-imagers.

"Then you're in for a surprise." John promised.

John and Celeste both drew their opening hands, John raising his arms high as he pulled off his sixth card.

**John: 8000**

**Celeste: 8000**

"In the name of the glorious heavens above, I shall take the first move." He intoned.

"The only reason you're taking the first move is because you won the coin toss." Celeste muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"_This guy has my aunt beat for 'most religious person I know,'"_ Celeste said to herself.

John casually slid a card from his hand, and placed it into his disk. A holographic representation of the card materialized in front of him, showing a hand tossing away several cards.

"It seems I'll open with the spell, Card Destruction." He said as he slid his remaining cards into the graveyard, "Now we both discard our hands, and resurrect them by drawing the same number of cards we just discarded."

"You must have a lousy opening hand to do that so soon." Celeste commented as she dropped her hand, "But you may regret doing that…"

"It matters not." John argued as he and Celeste both drew five cards, "For I shall set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

John placed a card horizontally onto his disk, and it shimmered into being before him. Celeste gave the card a cursory glance, and drew her sixth card. As she drew, a woman appeared behind her. She had black, feathery wings, black skin that looked like porcelain, and chin length blond hair. She wore a pink peasant girl's outfit, and had a smile on her face. She carefully raised one hand over Celeste's head, and a handful of shimmering dust fell over her.

John: 8000

Celeste: 8200

"What trickery is this!" John shouted, "Who is that girl?"

"You've never heard of Marie the Fallen One? She was in my hand when you played Card Destruction." Celeste explained as she raised an eyebrow, "She was once a high ranking servant in the heavens, until she betrayed their leader. She was cast out, and the ruler of the underworld took her under his employ. But she's not happy with her new position. In fact, she's trying to earn her way back into her former ruler's good graces by helping those in need. In game terms, I gain 200 life points for everyone of my standby phases that she's in my graveyard."

"A lovely story young lady, but Marie won't be enough to help you." John scoffed.

"Then I'll get some more help." Celeste stated as she placed another card on her disk, "I summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky (1300/1000) in attack mode."

From the ceiling above descended a boy, who looked to be about ten years old. He wore gray shorts, and a white t-shirt, and a pair of white angel wings were growing from his back. He had a pouty look on his face, like he didn't really feel like being involved in a duel.

"Kid, attack his facedown monster with heavenly hissy fit!" Celeste ordered.

The kid bunched his face up, and began to scream at the top of his lungs. John screamed also, covering his ears against the noise, and his facedown monster turned over. It was a strange, black specter, emerging from a gray, stone pot. The specter screamed as well, and shattered into pieces along with his jar.

"And since he destroyed a monster in battle, I gain 300 life points for every star level that monster had." Celeste continued as a large lollipop appeared in front of the child.

The kid stopped screaming, and happily claimed the treat. As he began licking it, a golden aura surrounded Celeste.

**John: 8000**

**Celeste: 8800**

"Very nice." John commented as he folded up his hand, "But your little brat destroyed a Morphing Jar (700/600), meaning that we each discard our hands, and draw five new cards."

Celeste seemed confused, but did as she was told. John smirked as he saw what had wound up in his hand.

"I guess that's it for my turn." Celeste declared.

"Then I draw." John declared as he did so, "And I summon Creator Incarnate (1600/1500) in attack mode!"

In front of John appeared a man wearing elaborate golden armor. By his side was a golden scimitar, which he drew with dramatic flourish. His body seemed to radiate with golden light, and Celeste's monster drew back in fear (dropping his lollipop in the process).

"Incarnate, destroy her brat of a monster with avatar's strike!" John ordered.

The armored man jumped forward, and swung his weapon right at the kid. The kid screamed, and fell over, scraping his knee in the process. The boy began to cry, and vanished in a burst of sparks which faded away.

**John: 8000**

**Celeste: 8500**

"Then, I lay this facedown." John announced as he put a card in the slot behind his monster's card, "And it's once more your turn."

Celeste drew, and Marie appeared once again. She lifted her arm, covering Celeste with another dose of holographic stardust.

**John: 8000**

**Celeste: 8700**

Celeste smiled as she saw what she had drawn. She quickly opened her field slot, and placed a card in.

"And now, here's the home of the heavenly hosts…" She began.

Immediately, the ground faded away, replaced by a sea of puffy white clouds. Glorious music filled the chamber, and a shimmering golden light floated overhead. Behind Celeste appeared a pure-white castle, which looked like it held a veritable maze of courtyards and hallways.

"The Sanctuary in the Sky!" Celeste finished, "And here comes one of those hosts I mentioned. I summon Agent of Creation: Venus (1600/0)."

Celeste placed a new monster card onto her tray. As she did, a beautiful young woman flew from the castle behind her. She touched down in front of Celeste, gracefully fluttering her golden angel wings. She had a calm, peaceful expression, and three orbs (colored blue, red, and purple) hovered around her body.

"Now, I'll use her special ability." Celeste continued as she removed her deck from its slot, "By paying 500 life points, I'm allowed to summon a specific monster from my deck. So I'll pay 1500 to summon all three of them."

Celeste took three cards from her deck, and put them on the field. Next to the angel, appeared three clear, blue orbs, about the size of basketballs. They shimmered with a strange light, as though they were amplifying the energy from the field around them.

"Meet the Mystic Shine Balls (500/500)." Celeste smirked.

**John: 8000**

**Celeste: 6200**

"What can those weaklings do to me?" John laughed, "My monster will cut them down one by one."

"Your monster won't be around that long." Celeste responded as she played a spell card, "I equip Venus with the Cestus of Dagla."

Venus extended her hands, and in them appeared a pair of blades. They were made of pure gold, and Venus's aura seemed to intensify around her.

"Cestus of Dagla?" John muttered, "I'm…not familiar with that card."

"This weapon can only be used by fairy type monsters." Celeste explained, "It increases their attack by 500, and any time they damage your life points, what you lose is added to mine."

"Oh." John gasped as his eyes went wide, "That's interesting."

"Really it is, when you consider Venus (2100/0) is now stronger than Incarnate." Celeste nodded, "Venus, strike down his monster with orbs of creation!"

Venus waved one of her hands, and the three orbs around her flew toward the armored soldier. He gasped, and drew back in fright…

When a swirling vortex of energy suddenly knocked the balls aside! The three orbs ricocheted back to Venus, who didn't seem at all wavered. Celeste, on the other hand, seemed a touch miffed.

"What happened?" She shouted.

"My facedown card happened." John explained as he pointed to his now face-up card, "Negate attack stopped your monster before it could do any damage, and then ended your battle phase."

Celeste frowned, and carefully slid two more cards into her disk.

"I'll lay these cards facedown, and end my turn." She stated as the cards materialized in front of her.

"Then it comes to my move again." John declared as he drew with a dramatic motion, "And it seems that fortune has smiled upon me at last!"

He removed The Creator Incarnate from his tray, and placed a new card on the field.

"I will now activate Creator Incarnate's special ability." John announced, "This allows me to sacrifice him to summon forth the almighty creature that he serves…"

The golden warrior vanished in a flurry of sparkles. In his place, a huge, white hot bonfire blazed into existence. Out of the fire, stepped a thirty-something foot tall giant! It was made of a golden metal, with huge wings and a large ring behind him. It cast a reddish glow over the entire dueling field, causing Celeste's monsters to all draw back.

"A monster that is capable of bringing an entire universe into existence! Behold: **The Creator **(2300/3000)!" John shouted.

Celeste stared open mouthed at the humongous monster. Electricity crackled over its form, and John smirked as he took a card from his hand.

-----------------------------

Needlez raised one eyebrow at the sight of the monster that rose behind John.

"Now that's very impressive," he thought aloud. "Summoning such a mighty creature so quickly."

Needlez chuckled a bit as Celeste stared up at the creature.

"This is one I know something about, so if Celeste is to have any hope of victory," Needlez chuckled again. "Heaven better help her."

-----------------------------

"And if you think he looks impressive, wait till you see _his_ special ability." John taunted.

"_I do _not_ want to be hit by that thing."_ Celeste thought.

"And just what is its ability?" Celeste asked.

"Why, the power of creation naturally." John answered as he slid a card into his grave, "This one card symbolizes the almighty God! And like our Lord in Heaven, He can bring forth new life. I just discard a card that I don't need, to bring a monster from my graveyard to the field. And thanks to my first few moves I have plenty to bring back! So I discard a second Creator Incarnate…"

The Creator extended one arm, and a blast of electricity flew out of it. It struck the ground, from which emerged a giant metal creature. It had the body of a man (albeit, a twenty foot tall one), which was covered in marble colored armor and carried a pair of golden blades. In place of legs, it had a long scaly trunk like a snake, covered in the same marble colored metal. The snaky part vanished beneath the clouds, indicating that it was a _very _long monster.

"What in Heaven's name is _that_ monstrosity!" Celeste shouted.

"An excellent choice of words actually." John nodded, "This is one of the ancient machines used during the war against Lucifer. It is known as Emes the Infinity (2500/2000)!"

"_This can not be good."_ Celeste thought.

"And now," John continued, "Creator, smite Venus with your holy lightning shockwave!"

The Creator raised one hand again, and another blast of lightning shot forth. This one struck Venus, however, who screamed as she vanished into sparks.

"Emes, destroy her first shine ball with limitless power blade!" John shouted.

The machine roared, and lunged forward like a serpent. Faster than Celeste could blink, one of the shimmering orbs in front of her had been sliced clean in half. The two halves shattered, and the remaining sparks vanished.

"And thanks to that, two things happen." John smiled, "First, Emes (3200/2000) gains 700 attack points since it destroyed a monster…"

Emes's swords began to shimmer with blue energy.

"…and second, you just lost 2200 life…points…!"

John stopped talking as he saw that Celeste's life points hadn't dropped at all!

"WHAT!" He shouted, "How in Heaven's name did your life points remain unharmed?"

"Simple. My field is called a 'sanctuary' for a reason." Celeste responded as a golden aura flared around her, "As long as it is on the field, neither player will take damage if one of their fairy types is destroyed in battle."

John gritted his teeth and snarled a bit as he placed another card into his disk.

"No matter." He muttered, "I'll lay this facedown. Now come at me with your tiny bubbles if you dare!"

Celeste's eyes narrowed in anger as a new card appeared behind Emes. She snapped a card from her disk, and looked over her hand. Marie appeared again, and a third dousing of heavenly sparks flew around Celeste.

John: 8000

Celeste: 6400

"As much as I'd love to end this now, so I wouldn't have to hear your ranting anymore, I have to pass this turn." Celeste sighed.

"You probably drew some useless puffball that's too weak to beat Emes." John smirked as he drew his third card, "But fear not, your defeat will be quick and painless. I discard one of my Tribute Doll spells to use The Creator's effect. And I bring back…"

John placed another card into his graveyard. The golden giant extended its arm once more, and a blast of lightning hit the ground. From the lightning came a huge dragon covered in shimmering diamond scales! It had yellow horns and claws made from crystal, and eyed Celeste with a terrible look in its eyes.

"Hyozanryu (2100/2800), the unstoppable Diamond Dragon!" John announced.

"I can think of another dragon that could stop it." Celeste retorted.

She burst into a fit of coughing which sounded strangely like "Blue Eyes."

"Well we can't all be Seto Kaiba!" John shouted indignantly, "Besides, I'll wager it's stronger than anything you have in your entire deck. Hyozanryu, destroy her second crystal ball with diamond devastation!"

The crystal dragon opened its mouth, and a storm of diamond shards flew out! The shards crashed into the second Shine Ball, which shattered like glass into a fine dust.

"Creator, I ask thee to eliminate her final bubble." John intoned, moving his hands into a praying position.

The Creator looked down at the tiny sphere, and reached toward it with his huge hand. With a single flick, the orb burst into white fire, and vanished.

"And now, Emes will strike you directly!" John shouted as his serpentine monster lunged.

As Emes approached, one of Celeste's cards turned over. A silver shield jumped in front of the mechanical monster, and its sword clanged against it. The shield reverberated with a clear tone like a bell, causing a blue aura to surround Celeste.

"And this is why, that was a bad idea." Celeste chuckled, "Draining Shield absorbs one attack and adds it to my life points."

Celeste paused as John's mouth dropped open.

"You'd think, considering how common this card is, more people would use it." Celeste mused as her life points sky rocketed.

**John: 8000**

**Celeste: 9600**

John was standing there, mouth doing an excellent imitation of a black hole. He didn't say anything, but just waved one hand to end his turn. Celeste just smirked as she added another card to her hand. Once again, Marie rose form the grave to bolster Celeste's life points.

**John: 8000**

**Celeste: 9800**

"I really like your Creator." She commented.

"Thank you." John choked out.

"In fact, I think I'll borrow him." Celeste continued as she placed a card into her disk, "I play Snatch Steal, letting me control one of your monsters. Guess which one I choose."

A pair of hands reached across the field, and grabbed hold of the golden colossus. The creature groaned as it was forcefully dragged in front of Celeste.

"Now wait just one…" John began.

"And what would be the fun in having a new monster if I didn't test it out?' Celeste mused, "So I'll discard the Agido in my hand to use the Creator's effect."

"And do what!?" John laughed, "Revive Venus? I highly doubt that she can help you."

"No, I'm reviving Wingweaver (2750/2400)." Celeste declared as The Creator launched a bolt of lighting at the cloudy floor.

From the clouds beneath ascended a gorgeous angel with six sparkling wings. She had purple hair, and wore a golden toga. She had a look of supreme peace and tranquility on her face, as she alighted next to the monolithic monster.

"But…but…" John stammered.

"Thank you so much for putting her in my graveyard when you played Card Destruction." Celeste grinned, "Now I think she'd like to repay you. But first, I'll equip her with my second Cestus of Dagla."

Celeste put her last card into her disk, and a second set of blades materialized in the angel's hands. Wingweaver (3250/2400) gained a shimmering yellow aura, which intensified the light around her.

"Oh no." John squeaked as he realized that Celeste's monster was stronger than Emes.

"Wingweaver, destroy Emes with heavenly might!" Celeste ordered.

The fairy crossed her weapons over her chest, and a golden aura began to glow around Emes. The machine type began to fade, and was soon consumed by the glorious radiance.

"And The Creator will destroy Hyozanryu!" Celeste continued.

The huge monster pointed at the diamond dragon, which screamed in pain as a blast of lightning smote it. As that happened, a golden light floated around Celeste from the Cestus.

"Of course, the fifty points of damage you took when Emes was destroyed are given to me now." She said.

"Yes, and I'll get 1000 life points at the start of my turn thanks to your Snatch Steal card!" John shouted.

"Or…so you think." Celeste protested as her facedown card flipped, "I activate Mystic Wok, and use it to sacrifice The Creator to boost my life points by its defense points."

A bolt of energy struck The Creator, who was immediately reduced to a silvery vapor. Celeste breathed deeply, as her life points jumped.

**John: 7750**

**Celeste: 12850**

"Your move." Celeste stated as the vapor disappeared.

John came to his senses, and pressed a button on his disk. A card showing a green skinned goblin going over several accounting books turned over.

"Before you end your turn, I activate Good Goblin Housekeeping." He declared as two more pictures of the card appeared over him, "Now I draw one card for every Good Goblin Housekeeping in my graveyard, plus one additional card. And I have two copies of it in my grave, meaning I draw three cards!"

John pulled three cards from his deck, and then pulled another from his hand. This one, he slid under the rest of his deck.

"What was that?" Celeste asked curiously.

"The cost of my trap." John sighed, "It's so powerful that I have to take a card from my hand and put it on the bottom of my deck after I take my extra draws. But now I get to draw for my turn."

John snapped another card from his disk, and smiled as he looked at the fifth card in his hand. He slid one of the others into his disk with a smirk.

"I'll start by playing Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Cestus." He declared as a blast of wind shot at Wingweaver.

The fairy type gasped as the winds tore her weapons from her grip. The blades flew into the distance, and shattered.

"Next, I play Premature Burial to revive the Creator Incarnate." John continued as he placed another card into his disk.

As his life points decreased, John smiled as the golden armored warrior returned to the field. He brandished his weapon with gusto, pointing it right at Celeste.

**John: 6950**

**Celeste: 12850**

"_That was rather pointless."_ Celeste thought as she raised her eyebrow.

"You're probably wondering why I did that." John guessed as he took another card from his hand, "Allow me to explain. I based my deck around The Creator…"

John quickly switched the monster on his disk for the card he had just drawn. The armored mortal vanished, and another bonfire burst onto John's side of the field.

"Did you think I'd only have one copy of it in my deck!" John laughed as the megalithic monster rose from the cloudy surface, "I actually have two in my deck!"

"Uh oh." Celeste muttered as the creature crossed its arms.

"And I've summoned this one in defense mode." John smirked, "Your little angel can't break his defense without her weapons, and soon I'll find a way to rid the field of her. But until then, I'll drop Kaiser Glider to summon back Hyozanryu (2100/2800) in defense mode!"

The Creator fired another blast of lightning as John dropped one of his final two cards. From the blast came the diamond dragon, its wings and tail curled around its body for protection.

"Your turn." John offered.

Celeste frowned as she drew a card and Marie appeared behind her to raise her life points again. When she saw what it was however, she smiled and plugged it right into her disk.

**John: 6950**

**Celeste: 13050**

"I play Card of Sanctity!" Celeste exclaimed as a golden flash lit up the room.

John pulled five cards from his deck, and Celeste quickly drew six.

"Ha! Now I have plenty to discard to bring in my most powerful creatures!" John shouted, "That was a poor move on your part Celeste."

"Don't worry, you won't get the chance to discard anything with what I've drawn." Celeste declared, "I play my own Premature Burial to bring back Zolga (1700/1200)."

Celeste's life points dipped a little as a creature covered by a purple robe materialized next to Wingweaver.

"Then, I sacrifice her to summon Agent of Judgment Saturn (2400/0)!" Celeste explained as Zolga burst into sparks, "And before I forget, I gain 2000 life points when I sacrifice Zolga to summon a monster."

In Zolga place appeared a new angel. She had deep purple skin, and blue angel wings. She wore an Egyptian style white robe and headdress, and had a stern look on her face.

"She's even weaker than your Wingweaver." John sneered, "How can she help you?"

"Simple: She can win me the duel." Celeste quipped.

"What? How?" John shouted.

"Her special ability." Celeste explained, "Take a look at the life points."

John looked at both of their readouts

**John: 6950**

**Celeste: 14250**

"The difference in our life points is 7300, correct?" Celeste asked.

"Yes…" John muttered, wondering what Celeste was getting at.

"Well then I've won." Celeste explained, "Because if Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, I can sacrifice Saturn to deal you damage equal to the difference in our life points as long as I'm already ahead."

John's eyes went wide once again as he realized what that meant.

"I'll lose…7300 life points, but I only have 6950!" He gasped.

"Right!" Celeste cheered as she took Saturn's card from her disk, "And your monsters can't protect you from this! Go Saturn, hit his life points with heavenly judgment!"

Saturn began to shine with a pure white light. John could only look on in horror as the angel transformed into a being of pure light, and flew straight at him!

"GOOD SWEET LOR…" He began to shout

He was cut off as the heavenly body wrapped around him, and an explosion of light filled his side of the field.

**John: 0**

**Celeste: 14250**

John fell to the ground, gasping for breath. He was unharmed, but in a state of shock from such a sudden loss.

"_Gotta love the miracle draw." _Celeste thought as she walked over to John to make sure he was okay.

John moaned and struggled to his feet again, Celeste patting him on the shoulder as he did.

"It would seem that I've lost." John said simply.

"Good duel though, you had me worried for a bit there." Celeste said.

"No Celeste, I was completely outmatched, and I'm not ashamed to admit it." John sighed as he pulled two cards from his deck, "But I'd like you to take these, hopefully they'll do your deck some good."

Celeste gasped as she saw John's Creator and Creator Incarnate being offered to her. She quickly tried to push the cards away.

"No John, I can't take part of your deck…" She started to protest.

"I already told you, I have another copy of these card in my deck." John said, pressing the cards into her hand, "And I have one other of The Creator besides. Running all three at once just seemed a bit…excessive for my tastes. Please, take this one and I know it will serve you well."

Celeste bit her lip, but silently took the two cards from John. The young man nodded, and stepped out of the circle, and Soul stepped forward again and raised Celeste's hand.

"We have our Duelist of Light." Soul announced, "Celeste Hikari!"

The audience let out a cheer for her, and Celeste felt her face flush. Soul smiled and led her through the crowd of other duelists, taking her to the door on the other side of the room.

"Just follow the path beyond this door and wait there for instructions." Soul told her, opening the passage, "And congratulations!"

Celeste just smiled as she stepped through the portal, and started down the passage behind it. She heard the door close behind her, but she paid it no mind. She was still too excited over the biggest win of her dueling career.

----------------------------------------------------

Needlez slowly got to his feet, and smiled.

"That's it then." He said, "I have my Elemental Duelists."

He looked to a large circle that he had drawn on the floor of the chamber.

"Now I merely have to decide which of them is truly the best…" He stated.

_**I was so happy when Celeste won.**_

_**I thought it would all be over soon.**_

_**Yew all know how that ended.**_

_**Now prepare to see the end of the beginning.**_

_**The next chapter will feature the largest scale duel ever attempted in any fan fiction we've seen.**_

_**I call it**_

_**Final Attack Orders**_

_**Be there, that's an order.**_


	8. Final Attack Orders

_**Deciding on all six of my Elemental Duelists was the easy part. When it came down to it, my plan would really rely on making sure each of them dueled an opponent they could beat.**_

_**I had the perfect way to test. If they could triumph against multiple opponents, then there was no doubt in my mind they'd be able to beat one opponent, even if the opponent was a famous duelist.**_

_**So I came up with a rather interesting challenge, to decide which of them was truly the strongest…**_

Final Attack Orders

Needlez sighed as he leaned back into his throne, keeping an eye on the six doors that led into his chamber. He smiled, knowing that soon he'd be training six elite duelists to do his bidding, and he could hear one of the winner approaching now.

The first door swung open, and into the room barreled Zeffie Gale, who was skipping and giggling excitedly just before stopping in front of the throne and smiling.

"Hello Mr. Old-Guy-Running-the-Tournament!" Zeffie said, cheerily, "Zeffie won the Wind Tournament!"

"I can see that." Needlez said, starting to develop a minor headache from the girl's energy, "Now then, why don't ye take a seat and…"

Before he could go any further, another of the doors was opened, and Julius Gold strode into the room. Zeffie immediately turned to him and let out a happy cry as she leapt into his arms.

"Goldie!" Zeffie cheered as the giant caught her.

"Hey there Zef, looks like you won." Gold smiled.

"Yep, Zeffie had to duel a really, really mean girl named Damosel and…" Zeffie started.

"Ah the exuberance of youth." Needlez sighed.

"You're telling me." Gold nodded as he set Zeffie down, "Hey, Zeffie. Why not tell all the other champions about the duel when they get here?"

Zeffie nodded, and stopped in mid sentence. As if on cue, the next door opened to reveal Brian Hokage walking in.

"That Arkana was some kind of…Oh hello." Brian said, noticing Zeffie and Gold, "It's you two again."

"Hey, I remember this kid." Gold said, looking to Brian, "How ya doing, Hokeypokey?"

"It's Hokage." Brian said, crossing his arms.

"Oh…Sorry." Gold said with a sheepish grin, "Looks like you won."

"Yeah, but my opponent was a freak." Brian said.

"Want to here about Zeffie's opponent?" Zeffie asked, bouncing up to the startle teen.

"Um…" Brian stammered, noticing as Gold hurriedly shook his head no, "Maybe later."

"Well isn't this nice, you've met before." Needlez smiled, "Now I guess we just have three more…"

Another door was opened, and Celeste Hikari stepped into the room.

"Oops, make that two." Needlez chuckled.

"Well, hello again." Brian said to Celeste.

"Oh hi!" Celeste exclaimed, "Wow, we were all talking before the tournament started."

"Then perhaps this is pre-destined." Needlez smiled, "Seems like such an eerie coincidence…"

The fifth door was opened, and Tim Hokage stood on the other side. He smiled, and began to walk in, only for the sixth door to swing open and strike him in the face!

Mako stood beyond the sixth door, and waved.

"Greetings my fellow…" He began.

BAM!

The sixth door was slammed shut once again by Tim, who was rubbing his nose.

"Door powned." Tim muttered as he walked in, "Hey there bro!"

"Tim, you made it." Brian smiled.

"What was I supposed to do, lose?" Tim laughed, "You know me better than that."

Mako walked up, and glared at Tim. A fresh lump was rising on his forehead and he was not amused.

"Was that really necessary?" Mako asked.

"Necessary, no." Tim said, "Satisfying? Like you wouldn't believe."

Mako grumbled a bit as Needlez stood up from his throne.

"Well now, it would seem my six finalists have been selected. Before we go on to the last match however, allow me to introduce myself." He said with a bow, "I am known as Needlez. Lord Needlez to my followers."

The six winner stood still at this announcement, and Tim cleared his throat.

"No offense, but it looks like people would only follow you to a retirement home." Tim said.

The other five cracked up at this, snickering a bit, while Needlez grimaced.

"_Note to self: When I control the Earth, red-heads are the first to go."_ He assured himself.

"Jokes aside, I'm the one who financed this little tournament." Needlez explained, "And the six of ye have done very well to make it this far. Now we have but one last duel before we decide which of ye is truly the greatest…"

"It's going to take more than one duel to eliminate everybody." Celeste pointed out, "There's six of us here."

"You powers of observation are astounding young lady, may I finish?" Needlez said with a sarcastic tone, "There'll be but one duel, and I'm certain it'll be quite the challenge: All six of ye will duel at once."

A silence fell over the group.

"Y…You're kiddin', right?" Gold asked.

"Does this face look like I'm kidding?" Needlez challenged.

Tim opened his mouth to answer, only for Brian to hit him in the back of the head.

"Ow! What happened to free speech!" Tim protested.

"You used it all up." Brian retorted, "Now there's none left for lame jokes."

"If I may continue…" Needlez stated.

"Sorry." Brian and Tim said together.

"Anywho, the six of ye will be participating in one, massive, six-way, free-for-all duel." Needlez explained, "All the usual rules apply, you each just have five opponents instead of one. You'll be ranked according to the order you're defeated, and the best will the one wins of course."

He gestured to their Duel Disks with a smile.

"There'll be just one minor difference. Once you have lost all of your life points, any cards you played immediately lose their effects and cease to influence the duel." Needlez declared, "Unless, of course, that card has come under the influence of your opponent in some way."

"What about the prizes for the losers?" Zeffie asked.

"Don't worry, you'll each get a prize lassie." Needlez smiled.

"Zeffie isn't a dog!" Zeffie protested, "Zeffie's name is Zeffie Gale!"

"So I've heard." Needlez said, his smiling wavering, "And, if the rest of ye would like introduce yerselves before we continue…"

The six duelist looked to each other, and Brian cleared his throat.

"I'm Brian Hokage, a dark duelist." He stated, "My specialty…Cards with tricky effects, and throwing folks off balance."

"And I'm his brother: Tim Hokage." Tim smiled, "Just call me Mr. Molotov when I'm dueling! I enjoy using cards with high attack, burn effects, I like long walks on the beach, dinner by candle light, and…"

Tim was silenced by another blow to his cranium by his brother.

"Not getting hit in the head…" He groaned, finishing his statement.

Mako spoke up now, before anyone else could.

"You've probably heard of me: Mako Tsunami!" Mako announced, "I specialize in creatures of the deep and the powers of water!"

"_Cue Jaws theme."_ Needlez thought.

"Zeffie's name is Zeffie Gale!" Zeffie cheered a second time, "Zeffie uses wind monsters and bouncing cards!"

"And I'm Gold. Julius Cicero Gold." Gold stated, "I use monsters for defense."

The others looked to Celeste who smiled.

"Celeste Hikari's my name. Fairies are my game." She stated, "Nice to see all of you again."

Everyone was silent for a minute, and glanced at Tim. Brian cleared his throat, and Tim looked at him.

"What? Oh, fairy jokes? Too easy, forget it." Tim said, "Not worth getting hit again."

"_Huh, one point to aversion therapy."_ Needlez thought.

"Well isn't that nice." Needlez said, "Now then, if the six of ye would like to step onto the symbols on the floor behind yew."

Turning around, the six duelists saw that the floor was now emblazoned with six symbols arranged in a circle: A purple infinity sign, a yellow star, and trio of brown zig-zags, a trio of blue waves, a green cloud, and a red fire. Each of the duelists gave the sigils a curious look, before they milled around to each one.

Eventually, they established that Celete was to take the star (With Needlez throne at her back), while Tim stood on the fire mark next to it. Gold took the next one clockwise (The brown lines) and Brian took the purple symbol on his other side. Mako stood in a dueling position on the blue waves, while Zeffie jumped up and down on the green cloud between Celeste and Mako.

Needlez nodded, and snapped his fingers. A spark of blue-green energy leapt from them, and the symbols on the floor began to light up in a random pattern. The duelists watched as they slowed down…

And then stopped. Gold smiled as he saw that the lines under his feet were glowing.

"Mr. Gold shall go first." Needlez stated, "And we continue clockwise from there."

"Clockwise?" Zeffie asked.

"To Gold's left, like how a clock moves if Gold is at the top." Needlez sighed.

"Works for me." Gold said as he drew six cards.

The others all picked up five, and watched their opponents warily.

**Gold: 8000**

**Brian: 8000**

**Mako: 8000**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 8000**

**Tim: 8000**

"Heh, today must be my lucky day." Gold smiled, holding up one card, "I start this duel with the card that'll end it: Final Countdown!"

As twenty fires appeared around the duel, five jaws dropped, ten eyes opened wide, and the remaining duelists cried out as one.

"WHAT!" They all shouted together.

"You heard me." Gold stated, "Now, I pay 2000 life points. And as long as I'm not beat in twenty turns, I win the duel."

Celeste did some quick math, and looked worried.

"That's barely three turns for each of us." She realized.

"Yeah…I know you all don't have much reason to trust me or listen to me, but I have an idea." Mako said, "I propose we all take down Gold first."

"Second it." Brian declared.

"Third it." Celeste confirmed.

"Sorry Goldie, Zeffie doesn't like losing to Final Countdown." Zeffie said, raising one hand to indicate her consent.

"Hooray peer pressure!" Tim cheered, "I'm all for it!"

"I'd like to see you all try." Gold said, sliding two more cards into his disk, "For now, I set one monster facedown and a card facedown."

**Gold: 6000**

**Brian: 8000**

**Mako: 8000**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 8000**

**Tim: 8000**

**19 turns left**

Brian drew, and smiled as he held up one card.

"Okay, I activate a simple spell know as Nobleman of Crossout." He stated, "Now I can remove any facedown monster I want, and I choose the only one on the field."

On the field next to Brian appeared a night in shining armor. He held up a glowing sword which he plunged into Gold's facedown monster. On it appeared Gear Golem the Moving Fortress, which shattered into globules of light.

"Next, I'll summon my Pitch-Black Warwolf (1600/800)." Brian declared.

Out of the ground before Brian burst his black-furred wolfman, howling and hefting his sword. The werewolf glared at Gold's facedown card, and growled.

"That's my turn, take it away Mako." Brian said as the second flame was extinguished.

Mako drew, and slapped down a monster card.

"I summon 7 Colored Fish (1800/800) to the field." Mako declared.

From behind him emerged the rainbow-scaled fish, which hovered in the air next to Mako.

"I'm going to have to end my move their and leave this to Zeffie." Mako decided.

Zeffie drew, ignoring the third flame as it was extinguished.

"Zeffie picks Sonic Duck (1700/700)!" Zeffie shouted, holding up her card before setting it on her disk.

A series of quacks echoed around the cave, followed by a loud crack as the green mallard broke the sound barrier to reach its place on the field. Everyone covered their ears against the noise, and Zeffie giggled.

"Oops, sorry." She apologized, "Ducky makes big boom. Well, Celesty's turn now!"

Celeste drew, and glanced across her hand. She finally settled on a card and put it down.

"I summon my Hysteric Fairy (1800/500) in attack mode." She declared.

A shimmering light appeared on the field, and out of it emerged a woman with short, black hair wearing an indigo business suit. She had white wings, and carried a book with an ankh on the cover. She adjusted her glasses before smiling to the others.

"That ends my turn, and I think Tim gets the first attack." Celeste said.

"That I do." Tim smiled as he drew, "And who better to take it then Blazing Inpachi (1850/0)?"

A pile of logs materialized in front of Tim, which suddenly burst into flame. They rose up into the rough shape of a man, which pounded its fists together in anger.

"Attack Gold with blazing beatdown!" Tim ordered.

The wooden golem pulled its fists back, but Gold pressed a button on his disk.

"Nice try, I activate Negate Attack!" He called out.

"Oh no you don't!" Brian interrupted, "Stop him Warwolf!"

The wolf monster jumped up, and landed on Gold's card, pinning it to the ground with his sword. Gold gasped as Brian explained.

"With my Warwolf on the field, none of my opponents are allowed to activate traps during the battle phase. _Any_ battle phase." Brian emphasized, "Finish your attack bro!"

"With pleasure." Tim grinned.

Gold let out a shout of pain as roughly ten pounds of flaming wood slammed into his stomach!

**Gold: 4150**

**Brian: 8000**

**Mako: 8000**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 8000**

**Tim: 8000**

**15 turns left**

Gold groaned as Tim waved one arm.

"That ends my turn," he stated.

Gold drew his card, looking over the four in his hand.

"_How do I get outta this one?"_ He asked himself, looking at his monsters.

"Seems to me yer in a bit of trouble Mr. Gold," Needlez observed.

"I've been tighter spots than this," Gold assured the judged as he took a card from his hand. "I'll set a monster facedown, and that's all."

The hidden monster appeared, and Gold smirked a bit.

"_None of their monsters has enough power to smash down my Stone Statue of the Aztecs, and if they do attack they'll take twice the damage,"_ Gold thought.

Brian drew his own card, and immediately set it onto his disk.

"Okay, guess I'll open the gates again with my Giant Orc (2200/0)," Brian declared.

"Uh oh…" Gold gulped.

A burst of shadows shot up in front of Brian, and from them emerged his massive ogre, hefting its bone club over one shoulder. The demon looked to Pitch-Black Warwolf, both of them nodding as they assumed battle ready positions.

"Orc, smash his defense monster with bone club beatdown!" Brian ordered.

Orc looked around, confused as it attempted to spot its target. Brian sighed and pointed to Gold's facedown monster, and Orc nodded as it stomped forward. With a single swing of its club, the huge fiend blasted Gold's green statue to tiny pebbles.

"Warwolf, think you can take him?" Brian asked.

The werewolf responded by lunging forward, slicing its weapon over Gold's chest. Gold stumbled back, his life points dipping dramatically.

"One card goes facedown now," Brian finished as a card appeared in front of him. "That's all."

As Brian said this, his Giant Orc fell to one knee, sweat beading on its forehead as it moved to defense mode as per its effect.

**Gold: 2550**

**Brian: 8000**

**Mako: 8000**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 8000**

**Tim: 8000**

**14 turns left**

Mako drew, and slapped down another monster of his own. In front of his rose a bright red lobster sporting a skull on the top of its head. It clattered its claws in anticipation as it looked toward Gold.

"I'll summon the Mad Lobster (1700/1000)) in attack mode," Mako announced. "Now my deep-sea monsters, show Gold how strong creatures of the sea are!"

Gold took a step back, but it was near far enough. Seven Colored Fish swam through the air and slammed its tail on top of Gold's head, knocking him to his knees. Gold clutched his head, leaving his throat unprotected as Mad Lobster clamped a claw around it. Gold gasped as he felt a pinch of pain around his neck, which faded along with the last of his life points.

"Well, I'm not sure just how to classify that other than possibly the poorest sample of dueling I've ever seen," Needlez muttered as Gold walked outside the circled and stood on the outside edge.

"Eh, happens," Gold sighed. "Win some, lose some…I really shouldn't have used Final Countdown against five opponents though."

"I agree, that was a bad move," Needlez nodded. "At any rate, you all may continue."

**Gold: 0**

**Brian: 8000**

**Mako: 8000**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 8000**

**Tim: 8000**

**Final Countdown averted**

Mako looked over his remaining cards, then shrugged.

"Nothing more I want to do, go on Zeffie," Mako invited.

As Zeffie drew her card, she looked up at Mako with a curious expression.

"Um…You're a really good duelist, right Mr. Mako?" Zeffie asked.

"Yes, I am pretty impressive," Mako bragged.

"You've even dueled Yugi and Joey right?" Zeffie smiled.

"I've exchanged blow with them, it's true," Mako nodded, not seeing the other three exchange glances.

"Okay…Zeffie says we all gain up on Mako!" Zeffie called out to the others.

"What?" Mako stuttered.

"Sorry, but you are the strongest one here," Celeste pointed out.

"Second it!" Tim agreed, raising one hand.

"Yeah, they have a point," Brian nodded.

Mako seemed a bit taken back by all this, as Gold chuckled from the sidelines.

"Well, not fun is it Tsunami?" Gold challenged.

Mako just scowled in response as he looked at the other four.

"Yeah, well I've got some of the strongest monsters on the field right now," Mako pointed out.

"Not for long," Zeffie said in a sing-song voice. "Zeffie put this back in her deck after the Wind Tournament. Go Rising Air Currents!"

The others all seemed confused, until a massive gust of wind shot up from below their feet! Everyone but Zeffie braced themselves as the floor under them turned into blue sky with the ground a tiny speck below them. Powerful winds pushed up at them, causing Sonic Duck (2200/300) to flap its wings at a mile a minute as it lifted itself from the non-existent floor.

"Zeffie's field spell gives wind monsters 500 extra attack points, but takes off 400 defense points," Zeffie explained as she placed down another card. "Now Zeffie summons another feathery friend, meet Faith Bird (1500/1100)!"

With a shriek, a blue eagle with long tail feathers swooped onto the field, catching the powerful wind under its wings. Its stats soared upward (2000/700) as it turned a circle around Zeffie.

"Now…" Zeffie grinned.

"You wouldn't dare," Mako challenged.

"You don't know Zeffie very well, do you?" Zeffie giggled. "Faith bird, attack with rainbow breeze! And you Sonic Duck, use beak bomber! Attack Mako's monster's!"

Faith bird stretched its wings back and flapped them forward, sending a twisting spiral of beautiful colors flying at the struggling Seven Colored Fish. The water monster as sent flying into the distance by the dazzling attack, while Mad Lobster squealed in pain as Zeffie's dusk slammed into its chest plate beak first. A crack appeared in the shell, before the entire monster shattered to bits, Mako's life points dropping accordingly.

**Brian: 8000**

**Mako: 7200**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 8000**

**Tim: 8000**

"Okay, Celesty's turn now," Zeffie grinned.

Celeste drew her card, and a mischievous smile crossed her face.

"That doesn't bode well fer ye Mr. Tsunami," Needlez chimed in.

"I summon Agent of Creation Venus (1600/0)," Celeste began.

A shimmering light gathered in front of Celeste, and from it was born a young maiden with flowing blond hair and gold skin. Golden angel wings spread behind her, fluttering in the breeze of Zeffie's field spell, and three orbs (one blue, one purple, and one red) hovered her body.

"Next I give up 1500 life points in order to use her effect and summon three Mystical Shine Balls (500/500) from my deck," Celeste went on.

Venus pulsed with golden light as Celeste's life points fell. She smiled as three, sky-blue orbs coalesced from the light, hovering around her and blending in with the blue sky around them.

"Finally, I give my Hysteric Fairy the equip spell card Cestus of Dalga," Celeste continued, holding up another card. "This gives any fairy 500 more attack points, and gives me any life points that they knock off of my opponent."

Hysteric Fairy watched as a pair of glowing, curved blades appeared in the air before her. The bookish angel took her tome and tucked it under one arm as she claimed the weapons, her attack points rising to (2300/500) as she did.

"Wow, overkill much?" Tim asked.

"Actually, he'll still have life points after this," Celeste corrected. "Though I bet you'll finish him afterward."

"Sure, sounds like fun," Tim smiled.

Celeste just pointed at Mako, who held his arms up in a defensive pose.

"Everyone, attack Mako now!" Celeste ordered.

Mako screamed in pain as all five of the angels suddenly unleashed a massive beam of golden light, knocking him to the floor! He stumbled back to his feet as Hysteric Fairy waved her hand toward Celeste, bathing her with the life points she had taken from Mako.

"Before ending my turn, I'll set one card facedown," Celeste finished as she pointed to Hysteric Fairy one last time. "I'll also use Hysteric Fairy's effect, sacrificing two of my Shine Balls to gain 1000 life points."

Two of the blue orbs shimmered and faded away, as Hysteric Fairy absorbed them into her body. A burst of white light flew from her form, causing Celeste's life points to rise even further.

**Brian: 8000**

**Mako: 1800**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 9800**

**Tim: 8000**

Tim drew now, looking around the field as he thought over his move.

"Okay…I'll summon Great Angus (1800/600) in attack mode," Tim started.

The floor rumbled as a series of glowing cracks appeared on the ground. The cracks widened before bursting open, releasing a wild boar with scarred, red skin into the cavern. It stomped the ground, snorting in a blind rage.

"Blazing Inpachi, finish off Mako!" Tim ordered.

"No!" Mako shouted in protest.

Too late. The burning golem stomped forward and slammed its flaming arm into Mako's chest. The water duelist groaned as he was knocked out of the circle, his life points dropping to nothing.

"I expected better from someone whose been in professional tournaments," Needlez mused. "Never the less, the rest of ye may continue." 

"Nice shot bro!" Brian congratulated.

"Yeah, well, don't sound too impressed," Tim warned. "I still have another monster, and I'm sending it after your Pitch-Black Warwolf. Ferocious charge!"

The boar let out a bellow before ramming itself right into Brian's werewolf. Both Brian and his monster seemed shocked as the werewolf was blown to piece by its opponent's sharp tusks.

"What was that for?" Brian yelled.

"Hey, I need to use trap cards too you know," Tim answered. "Besides, after the number of times you've smacked me in the head, I think I deserve a little compensation."

Brian just muttered something under his breath as his brother placed another card into his disk.

"Okay, one card facedown will do it for me," Tim decided.

**Brian: 7800**

**Mako: 0**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 9800**

**Tim: 8000**

Brian drew his card, and carefully checked over his hand.

"_Celeste and Zeffie are going to be tough to bring down,"_ he thought. _"Celeste boosted her life points, and probably has other ways to do so, while Zeffie has a field advantage. I'll need to get tricky here."_

"I'll set one monster facedown, and that's my turn," Brian declared., a hidden monster appearing in front of him.

Zeffie drew, and giggled again as she pointed to Brian field.

"Zeffie doesn't have any more monster she wants to summon, but she can still make Bri-Bri's monster's go bye-bye!" Zeffie cheered.

Both of her birds flew forward, Faith Bird flapping its wings and using its colorful wind to blow Giant Orc into the wall where it shattered. Sonic Duck dove towards Brian's facedown card, revealing and emaciated demon with orange skin and a black vest. The creature was knocked into the air by the force of Sonic Duck's attack, but Brian just smiled.

"When Newdoria (1200/600) goes down, he takes one other monster on the field with him, so I'll say goodbye to Celeste's Hysteric Fairy!" Brian shouted.

The fiend fell back down, landing on top of the glasses wearing angel and wrapping its arms around her. In a burst of black energy, both angel and demon vanished, leaving Celeste looking highly perturbed.

"Oh…You just made a big mistake…" Celeste glared at Brian.

"Oh goody, revenge!" Zeffie smiled. "Go on Celesty."

Celeste drew, and removed the last Shine Ball from her tray.

"I tribute my Mystical Shine Ball in order to summon Airknight Parshath (1900/1400)!" Celeste called out.

The last of the blue orbs vanished into the ether, and in its place rose a centaur, the horse portion of its body a pure white. Its human torso was covered by blue armor, with six wings extended from its back. It held up a glowing sword, which it pointed toward Brian with a look of justified anger on its face.

"Attack Brian my monsters," Celeste ordered. "Blade of Heaven and orbs of creation!"

Parshath charge forward, swinging his weapon downward and slashing Brian across his chest. Brian screamed in pain as he stumbled backward a step. Venus then pointed at the dark duelist, and the three orbs that flew around her zoomed forward and slammed into Brian's stomach, driving to his knees.

**Brian: 4500**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 9800**

**Tim: 8000**

"Ouch…" Brian gasped as he got back to his feet.

"_Sorry bro, I'd have my trap to help you but it only works if they attack me,"_ Tim lamented in his head.

"Now, since Parshath damaged your life points, I get to draw a card," Celeste said, picking up another card from her disk. "You're up Tim."

Tim drew, and looked over the cards he now held, then looked to Celeste and Zeffie's monsters.

"Okay, Great Angus, you take out Agent of Creation Venus," Tim ordered. "No one gets to hit my brother with holographic monsters but me!"

The boar turned and charged at Celeste's angel only for a silver shield to jump into its path. The boar slammed into the barrier, a clear tone ringing from it and bathing Celeste in green light.

"Draining Shield stops your attack and turns your monster's attack points into life points for me," Celeste elaborated as her score jumped again.

"Like you needed more life points," Brian observed, exasperated.

"Well, I can still knock a few of them off," Tim said. "Blazing Inpachi, you try! Blazing beatdown!"

The wooden man lunged forward and plowed its splintery limb into Venus. The angel gasped as she was blown apart, Celeste's life points dropping a bit.

"That went well," Tim smiled, "Your turn bro."

**Brian: 4500**

**Zeffie: 8000**

**Celeste: 11350**

**Tim: 8000**

Brian drew, and smiled as he immediately played the card he had pulled.

"I activate Card Destruction, forcing us all to ditch our hands and draw new ones," Brian stated.

All four players carefully discarded their cards, then drew new hands as they had been instructed. Brian tapped a button on his duel disk, causing his facedown card to lift up.

"Next comes Call of the Haunted, so let's welcome back the rarest card in my arsenal," Brian smiled as a shadow leapt from his grave. "Arise my Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/1200)!"

"What!" Celeste and Zeffie both gasped.

With a roar, a purple mist formed onto the field, then collapsed to unveil the black scaled beast. It focused its ruby eyes on the three other duelists, looking hungry almost as it anticipated its battles.

"Red-Eyes, take down Zeffie's Sonic Duck with inferno fire blast!" Brian ordered.

Zeffie let out a squeak of fear as the dragon shot a blast of flame at her field. She braced herself as her duck was struck down by the flames, letting out a feeble quack as it fell toward the holographic ground far below.

**Brian: 4500**

**Zeffie: 7800**

**Celeste: 11350**

**Tim: 8000**

"That's all from me," Brian said with a smile.

Zeffie drew now, quickly placing the card she had drawn facedown.

"Zeffie sets a facedown card, and let's Celesty go," Zeffie nodded.

Celeste drew, but as she did Zeffie's facedown card suddenly flipped over, revealing a strange looking dome.

"Go Compulsory Evacuation Device, send Red-Eyes back to Bri-Bri's hand!" Zeffie shouted very quickly.

Brian didn't have time to react, not that he could have done anything, as his dragon was pulled into the dome by a flurry of steel chains, then shot out of the top of it and out sight. Reluctantly, Brian took the dragon's card from his disk and placed it into his hand.

"Thanks Zeffie," Celeste said as she placed a card into her own disk. "For my next move, I'll need a change of scenery, so I'll replace Zeffie's field with my own Sanctuary in the Sky," Celeste went on.

Zeffie gasped as Celeste placed the card into her disk. The winds blowing from below stopped, but a solid platform of white clouds appeared under their feet. Behind Celeste appeared a golden palace, shimmering with its own light. Faith Bird (1500/1100) seemed unimpressed, though that may have been due to the sudden lack of wind.

"Finally, I summon Agent of Force Mars (0/0)," Celeste finished.

A being made of pure light flew off of the castle behind Celeste, and alighted on her field. The veil of light fell away, leaving another angel, this one in a red loin cloth, the upper half of his body covered in scars, carrying a hammer on a long pole.

"No attack or defense points?" Brian asked, looking confused.

Celeste seemed trouble also, and looked toward Needlez.

"I know of yer monster, Miss Hikari," Needlez interrupted. "Just so we're clear, it's ability shall be based upon whoever ye are attacking, or whoever is attacking you."

Celeste nodded toward Needlez.

"Thanks for clearing that up, I wasn't sure myself," Celeste smiled. "Now then, Parshath, attack Brian directly!"

Parshath once more trampled forward, slicing at Brian with its sword again. Brian braced himself, managing to remain in place.

"Now then, Mars's effect is easy to understand…Well, it is now thanks to Needlez," Celeste went on. "Mars gains attack and defense points equal to the difference between my life points and my opponent's points as long as…"

Celeste held up one finger.

"One, Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field." Celeste continued before holding up a second finger. "And two, I need to be in the lead, which I am so…"

Mars began to shimmer with holy energy as he glared at Brian. The angel's attack score skyrocketed to (8750/8750) as he lifted his weapon.

"No way!" Brian shouted.

"Well, that's a problem for ye," Needlez muttered.

"Attack with Heaven's wrath!" Celste ordered.

The angel pulled back its hammer, and brought it down on the cloud before it. Tim and Zeffie both looked toward Brian, who was trembling as the patch of water vapor he stood on turned black under his feet. Electricity suddenly shot up from the cloud, bolts of red lightening tracing over Brian's form as he fell to his knees from the force of the attack!

When the lightning finally let up, Brian groaned and stumbled from the circle, his points well below zero. Zeffie and Tim both looked toward Celeste, a bit worried now even as Mars allowed his score to drop back to (0/0).

**Brian: 0**

**Zeffie: 7800**

**Celeste: 11350**

**Tim: 8000**

"_It seems they all posses a bit of talent,"_ Needlez thought as Brian sat on the floor outside the circle to cheer on his brother. _"I can use that to my advantage. I highly doubt they'd actually be strong enough to beat Yugi or his friends, but who knows…"_

Needlez chuckled a bit as Celeste drew a card for Parshath's effect.

"_Besides, no matter who loses this duel, I win!"_ He reasoned.

_**They say that getting there is half the fun.**_

_**Well, it's true. But don't go away, ye don't know the end of the story yet.**_

_**The winner of the duel, and the induction of my six duelists comes next time in**_

_**Paths of Destiny**_

_**I hope to see ye there…**_

_**Or else.**_


	9. Paths of Destiny

Zeffie: 7800

_**So now our story finally approaches its end.**_

_**The origin of my army, the Elemental Duelists, will truly be known.**_

_**As the duel to prove themselves to me draws to a close.**_

Paths of Destiny

Needlez rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he watched over the duel unfolding before him.

Brian Hokage sat at the edge of the dueling ring, both hands on the ground as he cheered on his brother.

Mr. Gold had his arms crossed, a confident look on his face at the sight of Zeffie's field.

While Mako Tsunami seemed to have lost much interest in who was going to win, and was busy looking through his own cards.

On the field, three duelists remained. The entire floor of the circle they stood in was covered in a layer of puffy clouds as a silver palace hung in the air.

The clouds and castle were courtesy of Celeste Hikari's Sanctuary in the Sky spell card. She had a slightly smug look on her face, as her centaurian angel Airknight Parshath (1900/1400) and scarred host Angent of Force: Mars (0/0) drew power from the surroundings. She fanned a hand of four cards, and was wafting them like a fan.

Zeffie Gale, by contrast, was bouncing on her heels again, something she usually did when she was waiting for her next turn. The girl held five cards in her hand, and it was cleared she would need them seeing as her sole monster, the blue-feathered Faith Bird (1500/1100) was ferociously outclassed by the other monsters.

Two of those other monsters belonging to Tim Hokage, whose turn was just coming around. As he drew his hand to six cards, the red skinned boar known as Great Angus (1800/600) and the flaming wooden golem called Blazing Inpachi (1850/0) were both trembling in anticipation. Behind them sat a single facedown card, which didn't seem to offer much protection.

And on each of their duel disks, their scores shown in electronic green numbers.

**Zeffie: 7800**

**Celeste: 11350**

**Tim: 8000**

"Three down already, things should git much more interesting from here on," Needlez commented. "Anyone of yew feel the need to drop out for any reason?"

"No way!" Zeffie suddenly spoke up, jumping and down. "This is the funnest duel Zeffie's ever had!"

"Yeah, you tell 'em Zef," Gold chuckled as his young charge continued to hop.

"Wow, how many miles to the gallon does she get?" Tim asked, his eyes following the child.

A few laughs were heard, Needlez even managing to strain out a chuckle before turning his gaze on the younger Hokage.

"It's still yer move," He pointed out.

"Right, I'm on it." Tim nodded. "And I'll start by summoning an old favorite of mine, and I hope it's one of yours: Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)!"

A plume of flames erupted from behind Tim, gathering into the shape of a serpentine dragon wreathed in fire. It roared as it curled behind the Blazing Inpachi, hissing slightly at the other two duelists.

"And for my next move…" Tim smiled, reaching for his hand.

The others waited, watching the young man. Brian just shook his head, able to see what was about to happen a mile off.

"I end my turn," He grinned.

"That's…Anticlimactic," Celeste pointed.

"Let's see what my dragon thinks, get her!" Tim ordered, pointing directly at Celeste.

Celeste screamed as the serpent lunged right toward her, spitting a blast of fire! She ducked, and the flames passed over head and smashed to the ground at the base of Needlez's throne.

"What was that for?" Celeste shouted.

"That, was for my dragon's effect, which takes 500 life points off of you. Since I've got more than one target, I figured I could pick who gets fried," Tim explained as his dragon returned. "Oh, and before either of you try to, my dragon can't be attacked unless he's the only pyro-type I control. So you need to get past Blazing Inpachi first."

**Zeffie: 7800**

**Celeste: 10850**

**Tim: 8000**

"Zeffie knows how to smash big monsters!" Zeffie cheered as she drew. "Summon bigger ones! Zeffie tributes Faith Bird for Roc from the Valley of Haze (2400/1500)."

The blue eagle vanished into grains of light, and a loud screech echoed through the cave causing everyone else to cover their ears. From the darkened ceiling above descended a massive hawk-like bird easily the size of a private plane. Its head was covered by what seemed to be a cow skull, hiding any view of the beast's true face.

"Attack Blazing Inpachi with canyon caw!" Zeffie ordered, the bird opening its mouth to release a sonic attack.

"You all might want to cover your ears again," Tim warned as he reached for his disk and hit a button.

"Why, what's he planning?" Mako asked, looking over to Brian.

"Just, do what he says, quick," Brian advised, his hands already over his ears.

Roc's mouth was fully open, and rings of pink sound energy issued forth toward the fire golem. As they drew close, Tim's facedown card swung up and projected a barrier of blue light over the boy and his monsters. The pink rings struck the barrier and exploded in every direction, bouncing off the walls and floor creating a terrible cacophony that reached every where in the room and knocked all occupants except for those in the shield off their feet.

In the midst of all the racket, several rings found themselves redirected to Celeste and Zeffie's monsters, shattering them like glass figurines. The noise finally died down, and Tim smirked as he put his Mirror Force into the graveyard.

"Oh…." Zeffie moaned. "Zeffie didn't know you had Mirror Force…"

"And I guess it destroys my monsters too, huh?" Celeste realized as she looked at her empty field.

"Once again, I kind of had a feeling," Tim smiled.

"Good insticts, young duelist. This is yer first time fighting more than one opponent, correct?" Needlez asked.

"You wouldn't guess by watching him," Mako commented, looking over to Brian again.

"Hey, I just live with the guy, I don't pretend to know how he figured that one out," Shrugged the older brother.

Zeffie in the meantime had slid another card onto her disk, which appeared facedown in front of her. A quick to Celeste signaled the end of the young girl's turn.

Celeste drew, a small frown appearing on her face.

"_He blasted one of my strongest monsters and it wasn't even my attack that caused it,"_ She thought. _"Add that dragon of his and I might have a problem…"_

"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn," Celeste declared, a horizontal card materializing between her and her opponents.

"Here goes then!" Tim exclaimed as he drew his card. "Time to double the fun with another Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)!"

With a roar and a burst of flame, the twin of the first dragon emerged onto the field, intertwining with its double into a swirl of fire and smoke.

"Best part is, now you can't attack either one of them," Tim grinned. "But they can still attack you two, namely Zeffie. Solar flare scorcher!"

The dragons leapt toward the young girl, who hurridly tapped her disk as Gold called out to her…

"Go, Windstorm of Etaquaa! Blow those dragons away!" Zeffie commanded, a huge gust of wind suddenly nailing both of the monsters and carrying them, Great Angus and Blazing Inpachi to the edge of circle, leaving them in a crumpled heap. "All your monsters go to defense mode now."

Tim frowned as he said, "Huh, I didn't think she'd hurt me by breaking wind…"

"You're really reaching for material now, aren't you?" Brian commented from the side.

"Even I'm not crazy enough to make jokes about angels," Tim pointed out. "Nothing wrong with roasting 'em though. I end my turn and use my dragons on Celeste again to even the scores a bit!"

"Oh not again…" Celeste moaned as the beasts bore down on her.

**Zeffie: 7800**

**Celeste: 9850**

**Tim: 8000**

"That looks like it hurts…" Zeffie commented as Celeste beat away the last of the flames.

"You're better off not finding out, trust me," Celeste confirmed with a wince.

"Umm….You know how we teamed up to fight Maky and Goldy?" Zeffie asked, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"I don't like where this is going," Tim spoke up.

"I do," Celeste grinned. "You set him up, I'll knock him down Zeffie!"

"Yay! Zeffie summons Spirit of the Books (1400/1200)!" Zeffie cheered as she played her card.

In swirl of dust and feathers, a wizened eagle/human hybrid appeared on the field. The last of the breeze ruffled his tan cloak as he tucked a dusty book under one arm and coughed a bit.

"Attack Great Angus, winds of wisdom!" Zeffie ordered.

The aged monster coughed once more before sharply gesturing toward the crouched boar. Great Angus roared in anguish as a sudden blast of wind lifted it from the ground, smashed it into the ceiling, and dropped it back to the floor where it shattered into digital bits.

"That wasn't so bad," Tim commented.

"That's what's Celesty's for," Zeffie giggled as she played another card. "One more facedown, and Zeffie ends her turn!"

Celeste drew her card, and let out a shocked laugh upon seeing it.

"Good draw?" Tim guessed, looking worried.

"Exactly what I wanted, I use Polymerization to fuse my facedown Forgiving Maiden (800/2000) with the Marie the Fallen One from my hand!" Celeste called out.

From the back of the first card emerged a woman in grey robes, tears streaming down her face. She was joined on the field by a more terrifying creature: A black skinned demoness in a pink tunic, with blond hair that stood out like gold against her skin. The two monsters joined hands, and a shining light formed around them…

"I summon: St. Joan (2800/2000)!" Celeste intoned.

A woman with short, red hair appeared within the light. She was covered in silver and black armor, and carried a shining blade in one hand. She raised the weapon overhead, letting out a fierce battlecry as she stared down Tim's monsters.

"Umm….That's…Is that Joan of Arc?" Tim asked.

"Yup," Celeste nodded.

"…Did you want to add Napolean to the mix by any chance?" Tim questioned.

"Ha ha. Let's see how funny you think this is," Celeste challenged as she produced another card. "I equip her with Fairy Meteor Crush!"

A red aura flared up around the maiden, and her sword blazed with flames!

"Now that she can pierce right through Inpachi's defense…" Celeste began.

"I get it, I get it," Tim squeaked out. "No more French jokes!"

"Joan, attack! Destroy the Blazing Inpachi!" Celeste ordered.

The Patron Saint of France lunged right into the burning golem and cleaved her blade straight down through it. It swiftly collapsed into a pile of cinders, and a shockwave of red energy blew Tim right off his feet!

**Zeffie: 7800**

**Celeste: 9850**

**Tim: 5200**

"That's it for my turn," Celeste declared as Tim got back to his feet.

"_Okay, I still have my Solar Flare lock, they can't get through that,"_ Tim thought as he drew his card. _"But just to be safe…"_

"I'll set two cards facedown, and let my dragons do what they do best to…" Tim declared as two more cards appeared.

"Celeste?" Zeffie guessed.

"Hey, you're pretty smart," Tim grinned.

"It's not hard, I have the lead," Celeste grimaced as the dragon charged toward her once more, dodging Joan as she swung her sword at them.

"_And Celesty loses more points,"_ Zeffie thought with a giggle. _"Zeffie's facedown could stop one dragon…But Timmy didn't come after Zeffie's point, so Zeffie will just break the lock on her turn…"_

**Zeffie: 7800**

**Celeste: 8850**

**Tim: 5200**

Zeffie drew her card with gusto, almost knocking herself over with the dramatic sweep from her pull.

"Careful there Zefs," Gold cautioned, looking worried about his young charge.

"Don't worry Goldie, Zeffie's got this! Go, Compulsory Evacuation Device!" Zeffie cheered as her facedown lifted up. "Bye bye dragon!"

From behind the girl emerged a familiar metal dome, which immediately produced a powerful vacuum focused on Tim's field. The two Solar Flare Dragons attempted to resist the pull, but one was unsuccessful and was yanked into the machine. With a final roar, it was sent flying from the top and dispersed into a plume of flame at the ceiling.

"Well….That sucked," Tim commented to a chorus of groans from his audience.

"Tim, please, shut it off," Brian begged, massaging his temples.

"And waste my chance while you're too far away to hit me?" Tim chuckled, eliciting another groan from his brother.

"_Clever move, the wee lass could've stopped the dragons from damaging Celeste as much. Instead she waits till after they a score a hit to open her way through the lock,"_ Needlez observed, rubbing his chin with one hand. _"It's exactly the sort of thing I would have done. Maybe trading Damosel for Zeffie won't be so bad…"_

"Um, can Zeffie keep going?" Questioned the youngest duelist, looking confused as to why everyone was looking at Tim. "It's still Zeffie's turn, right?"

"Yeah, go ahead and have your fun," Celeste encouraged, waving to the girl.

"Okay then, Zeffie casts Premature Burial!" Intoned the child, a circle of red light appearing next to her. "Come back Roc (2400/1500)!"

In a burst of light, the giant hawk had appeared by Zeffie's side. This time, rather than hovering over the ground, it stood next to the girl. It seemed to be sporting a few patches of missing feathers and an injured wing from its own reflected attack from earlier, but a low rumbling from its chest did not bode well for Tim's last dragon.

"Huh, normally they stay fried after I take 'em down," Tim muttered.

"Spirit of the Books, attack his last dragon!" Zeffie ordered.

The aged eagle-man began to chant once more, a pulse of dusty wind flying into the face of Tim's last monster and extinguishing it like a candle. It quickly turned into a statue of black soot, that collapsed into a pile on the ground.

"Hey…" Tim started.

"Canyon caw, get him!" Zeffie interrupted before Tim could spit out another joke.

Whatever corny pun, one-liner, or other form of supposedly jocular dialogue the younger Hokage was going to say was drowned out by the concussive blast of pink soundwaves that hurtled toward him…

Right before a massive pink tube appeared in front of Tim and caught the attack!

"Like I was saying. Hey, Zeffie! Did you know I have a Magic Cylinder?" Tim smiled.

"Uh oh…" Zeffie gasped.

The tube spun around, and the pink rings fired out toward their origin. Roc managed to move aside this time, leaving its master to get pummeled into the ground by the attack.

"Zeffie!" Gold shouted.

"That wasn't so bad…" Zeffie giggled, looking a touch loopy after the blow. "Could someone get the phone?"

"Yeah, I feel the same way after…" Tim laughed.

"Don't even start," Brian warned.

"But I was just gonna…" Tim argued.

"No." Was Brian's simple reply.

Tim just huffed a bit as Zeffie shook her head to clear it.

"You sure you're okay out there?" Gold asked.

"Zeffie's fine! Zeffie can take a lot more than that!" Zeffie cheered. "Why didn't anyone answer the phone yet?"

"There's no phone," Mako explained from the sidelines. "Don't worry, I get the same ringing in my ears after storm on the seas. It'll pass."

"Finally speaking up again, eh Mako?" Brian asked

"Forgive me, English isn't my first language," Mako said, shaking his head.

"Zeffie…Ends turn…" Zeffie sighed.

"_And once Celeste attacks, my Sakuretsu Armor will blast St. Joan back to the Hundred Years War,"_ Tim thought as Celeste drew.

**Zeffie: 4600**

**Celeste: 8850**

**Tim: 5200**

Celeste took her card, and the black-skinned peasant girl from earlier appeared behind her. She took a deep breath, and blew into her cupped palm, sending a spatter of sparkling dust over Celeste, who turned and smiled at her.

"Thanks," Celeste nodded to the creature, before turning to the others. "So, first I draw, then the Marie the Fallen One in my graveyard gives me 200 bonus life points."

"Do you ever stop gaining life points!?" Tim shouted.

"It's called a strategy," Celeste responded.

"You know, something you wouldn't get?" Brian added with a chuckle.

"Hey, I have a strategy...It's called start-fire-then-run," Tim answered.

Celeste looked over to Brian, possibly a little surprised at the level of sibling tit-for-tat the brothers shared. Before she could comment thought, the elder Hokage nodded to her.

"Please, just…Just finish it if you can," Brian mumbled.

"I heard that! Great way to be supportive bro!" Tim called to his brother.

"And I remove Hysteric Fairy and Forgiving Maiden to special summon my favorite monster: Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800)!" Celeste announced.

A shimmering silver form suddenly appeared behind the young woman. It slowly formed into a female angel, with translucent wings. She gently draped her arms across Celeste's shoulders, embracing her from behind. Celeste smiled a bit as she patted the angel's hand, before playing another card.

"And since I still have my normal summon, I'll bring in my Mirage Dragon (1600/800)," Celeste went on.

A burst of rainbow light shone on the field, and when it cleared a serpentine dragon now stood before Celeste. Unlike Tim's dragons thought, this one was covered in golden armor and lacked any sort of visible flames.

"Now then, everyone remembers the Pitch Black Warwolf from earlier, right?" Celeste asked.

There was a murmur consent from all but Tim, who muttered, "I don't like where this is going…"

"Well, this guy has the same effect. Only I can activate traps during the battle phase now," Celeste elaborated.

"I _really_ don't like where this is going…" Tim stressed, taking a step back.

"Oh come on, do you think I'd blast someone just to get even with them for tearing into me with direct damage each turn?" Celeste teased, smiling at her opponent.

"You mean you wouldn't?" Tim asked, looking relieved.

"Nope. I'm attacking you from a strictly…Strategic stand point. Get him!" Celeste shouted.

"Insert famous last words here…AAHHH!" Tim screamed.

Tim screamed as the dragon suddenly spat a beam of rainbow energy right into his face at the same time that the angel behind Celeste dazzled him with a display of silver flashes. As he rubbed his eyes, he never saw Joan close in with her blade until it was just about to jammed into his chest.

Gold, in the meantime, set a land speed record as he ran forward to cover Zeffie's eyes before Tim got skewered, much to the child's protest.

**Zeffie: 4600**

**Celeste: 8850**

**Tim: 0**

"_Probably better that one didn't get any farther…"_ Needlez assured himself as the last of Tim's life points ticked away.

Tim was groaning as he dragged himself off the field, while Gold released his grip on Zeffie and returned to the sidelines as well. Zeffie and Celeste turned to face each other head on, their monsters quickly shifting positions to now occupy the space between both girls.

"Timmy loses!" Zeffie giggled as Tim took a seat next to his brother.

"Oh yeah, well who do you think the only target left is?" Tim pointed out. "Some how Zeffie, I think there's a great flaw in your team-up strategy…"

Zeffie stopped laughing, while Celeste placed another card onto his disk.

"I'll set one last facedown and end my turn," Celeste said with a wink. "Come on Zeffie, let's see what you've got."

Zeffie drew her own card, and nodded as she turned it around.

"Zeffie's got a Rush Recklessly card to use on Roc (3100/1500)!" Zeffie cheered as her injured bird flared with a green aura. "Attack Joan!"

The bird's sonic attack rang forth once more, only for a silver disk to catch and translate the pink screech into a green bell-tone that shone over Celeste.

"And my Draining Shield turns it into extra life points," Celeste responded.

Needlez clapped his hands as he watched the duel unfold.

"Nicely done ladies, yew two truly are the best," Needlez stated. "Is this what the young ones call 'girl power?'"

**Zeffie: 4600**

**Celeste: 11950**

"…Zeffie has no idea what Mr. Needlez is talking about, do you Celesty?" Asked the younger girl to the older.

"I really wish I didn't…" Celeste sighed.

"Well….Zeffie sets a card facedown and lets you go," Zeffie smiled, playing her card.

As Celeste drew, the ground began to shake. Zeffie's trap spun upward, and behind the child rose the Great Sphinx of Giza, coated in gold and shining under a non-existent desert sun.

"Go Ordeal of the Traveller!" Zeffie ordered. "Now everytime Celesty attacks, she picks a card in Zeffie's hand and tries to guess whether it's a monster, spell or trap. And if she's wrong, her monster gets bounced!"

"That a girl!" Gold cheered.

"Not bad, but we're gonna have to skip the minigame," Celeste warned as she swapped a card on her disk. "I tribute Mirage Dragon to summon the Agent of Judgement: Saturn (2400/0)!"

The golden dragon vanished, replaced by yet another angel. This one was purple-skinned and dressed in robes reminiscent of an Egyptian Priestess. She had a solemn gaze, centered on Zeffie, as the cloudy arena around her seemed to tremble.

"Now, since Sanctuary in the Sky is still present, I can tribute her and deal you damage equal to the difference in our life points," Celeste explained, her monster flaring with a shining light. "All told, that's…"

"Over NINE…." Tim called out.

A swift crack from the sidelines indicated that Tim had been silenced by his brother in the harshest way possible that did not constitute assault.

"Actually, it's only 7350 if I got my math right," Celeste corrected as Tim nursed a new bruise.

"You did, trust me. Math's kind of my thing," Brian nodded.

"Um…Does Zeffie lose then?" Zeffie asked.

"Sorry, but yeah," Celeste nodded. "Go, Saturn, heavenly judgment!"

With a silent burst of light, the angel had transformed into a being of pure energy that swiftly closed in on her target and trapped Zeffie in a tight embrace. Before she could struggle, Zeffie was consumed by a blast of white light. The only sound that could be detected was the sound of her life point counter dropping…

**Zeffie: 0**

**Celeste: 11950**

Zeffie looked up. She had cringing, expecting pain, but the light seemed to have done nothing other than drop her life points. She looked up to Needlez, who was on his feet applauding like mad.

"Well played, well played indeed! The best entertainment I've had in an eternity!" Needlez laughed as he continued to clap. "It's certainly a privilege to have a watched a match between such high-caliber duelists. And a congratulations is in order for Ms. Hikari for coming in first!"

Celeste had a great big smile on her face as she heard the others clapping politely behind her. All except for Tim who was chanting the theme of the Miss America pageant until Brian elbowed him in the ribs, and Mako who's pride as a professional kept him from clapping more than twice over his loss to a gang of amateurs.

"Now then, I suppose yer wondering aboot your prizes…" Needlez began.

"New cards!" Zeffie cheered, bouncing up and down like an excited puppy again. "Newcardsnewcardsnewcards…"

"Heh, settle down Zefs," Gold smiled, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder to keep her feet on the ground. "You should be more polite to Mr. Needlez here."

"Aye, and before I git to the cards I've something more fer all of ye," Needlez grinned as he waved one hand toward the circle on the floor.

A rumbling and cracking drew the attention of the competitors, and all six quickly scrambled to the outer edge of the ring as six statues began to rise from the very spots they had been standing but moments before for their duel. Each statue faced toward the outside of the circle, and all six looked familiar…

Brian was the first to approach, waving his hand in front of the stone Dark Necrofear that had come from the floor.

"Nice detail, this looks just like the costume the tournament judge was wearing," Brian admired, his hand hovering over the necklace with a single black crystal that she wore. "You even have the jewelry…"

"Actually, the necklace is fer yew," Needlez corrected, the chain holding the gem up snapping as he did so.

Out of instinct, Brian caught the falling stone, and paused once more to look it over. It was deep purple with hints of black within it.

"For me?" Brian wondered, looking to Needlez.

"Each of the statues has a gift for yew, a very special treasure known as an Elemental Stone," Needlez invited, waving the others to the remaining five statues.

Zeffie was the first to break away and bound up to the Silpheed statue just as the circlet with its emerald and jade swirled crystal toppled from its forehead and into the child's waiting hands.

Mako knelt next to the Aqua Spirit carving, lifting her silver anklet and eyeing the azure gem set into, waves of cerulean visible even in the dim torchlight.

Celeste had closed in on the Soul of Purity and Light just in time to receive the ring it had worn. The clear golden stone set into it seemed to produce a light of its own once in her hands.

Tim was already slipping on the armlet Spirit of Fire had possessed. The ruby-red treasure within it seeming to spark with life.

Gold had been the last, in seemingly no rush. He lifted a now dusty golden bracelet off the floor and carefully polished the brown, cut stone on it, admiring the different shades running through.

"Pretty…" Zeffie was the first to speak up about their prizes, her eyes reflecting the light from the jewel.

"Okay, this seems a touch…Lavish for a tournament prize," Brian commented, casting a suspicious gaze to Needlez. "You aren't, by anychance…"

"Don't worry, they aren't stolen. They're a part of my private collection," Needlez assured the young man. "A rare type of gem that can grant power over the elements to those that wear them."

A stunned silence came over the others (except for Zeffie who let out an excited gasp and hurriedly shoved on the circlet).

"Is it working?" She asked, running to Mr. Gold and jumping into his arms.

"Zeffie, something tells me you shouldn't be wearing that…Or taking anything else this guy might offer…In fact, we're leaving, now," Gold declared, removing the circlet from his young charge.

"Yeah, I'm with the big guy, let's get out of here Tim," Brian suggested, setting the necklace back in the grasp of Dark Necrofear.

"That does sound pretty out there," Celeste agreed, following the brothers.

Mako muttered something in Japanese as he began to leave…

"This is not just New Age garbage Mr. Tsunami," Needlez responded.

"I'll say, it's really shiny new age…" Tim agreed.

"Wait, you speak Japanese?" Mako asked, looking to Needlez.

"So, lots of people do. Not many can do this however," Needlez commented as he waved one hand once more.

_**BAM!**_

"…Ouch…" Gold muttered as he stumbled away from the solid wall he had just walked right into.

"Silly Goldie should open the door first," Zeffie giggled.

"I thought...Woah…" Gold muttered, staring at the offending blockade.

Where once the wall had held six doors, it now hosted trail of carved pictures. The sequence showed people, tilling soil and holding spears over a river but with empty baskets behind them.

"Once, in a far away land, long ago there was a young civilization toiling its way through history," Needlez intoned as another set of carvings began to appear. "They did all they could merely to survive, until they discovered a source of great power…"

A new scene had appeared, this one depicting six individuals, each holding a shining rock of some kind. They stood as if watching over the fishers and farmers, who were now gathering wheat and carrying baskets full of fish.

"This power could harness the primal forces of nature, allowing those with the proper training to make the land fertile, bring rain, clear farmland, and perform great miracles!" Needlez explained as strange creatures appeared in the carvings, assisting the people further by building houses. "They could even call upon creatures from another world to help them in times of need."

"Neat…" Zeffie breathed.

"How is he doing this?" Brian wondered, staring as the carving changed again.

Tim seemed at a loss for a joke for once in his life as he watched silently. The picture now showed one man standing over a prosperous city, holding six of the shining rocks over his head.

"Then came the day that a great savior was born to these people. He could wield the powers of all the stones rather than just one like most could, and began to lead them to a golden age…" Needlez sighed, as if cherishing a happy memory.

"So what happened?" Celeste wondered.

"The other mystics who were in charge of the crystals grew jealous of his power, and fearful of the change. He could single handedly perform any task the people had normally relied on the others fer. If things kept going as they were, what need was their for the others?" Needlez explained, waving his hand. "And so, the other mystics ambushed the savior, and sealed away his powers and soul…"

The carving had changed once more, now the figure from earlier lay on the ground (dead apparently) with six symbols hovering over his body. The city underneath had now crumbled away as well, changing from a gleaming utopia to a desolate ghost town.

"Without his guidance, the city fell and the cruel mystics were punished," Needlez finished. "And so, a great chance fer the world to become as paradise was lost, seemingly forever."

The wall was now blank again, and the six finalists turned toward their host. Zeffie's eyes were wide and shining as though she were about to cry.

"No happily ever after?" Zeffie whimpered.

"Not until today…" Needlez grinned as he stood.

The six items of jewelry that the duelists had set aside lifted from the ground and began to hover around him. They slowly flew back to the duelists who had discarded them as Needlez said, "I was the one who could have save humanity a lot of trouble so long ago. They seal the mystics used kept my soul tied to this plane and I've spent countless generations trying to save up enough power to do what I wished to do before my untimely end. Now, I believe the six of yew can help make my dream a reality."

"If you're so powerful, what do you need us for?" Mako wondered.

"That's the problem, I'm not as strong as I seem," Needlez corrected, looking at his pocket watch. "I need help, so I started this tournament…"

"To look for duelists…To help save the world…" Tim finally chimed in. "Because a card game can dictate reality?"

"Not this one in particular, but it is a fine measure of how well each of yew synchronizes with yer selected element. Wind, fire, water, earth, light, darkness. Each of yew has shown great promise in utilizing these powers in yer decks…I'm merely giving yew the chance to manifest them in other ways," Needlez smiled. "If yew don't believe in their power, then try them on and prove me wrong."

"Yeah, okay," Tim nodded as he took the arm brace back and snapped it on. "Because I know Brian agrees with me, for once, when I say there is no way wearing this is going to let me make like the Human Torch and…"

Tim snapped his fingers and suddenly stopped as the others all jumped away from him, a flash of flame springing from his hands and dispersing against the ceiling. He looked from his hand, to Brian, then back to his hand before smiling at his brother and saying, "You should stop hitting me."

"Cool!" Zeffie cheered, jamming the circlet back on before Gold could stop her. "Zeffie bets she'll be able to fly!"

Celeste was looking at the ring that she had unconsciously grabbed when she jumped away from Tim. She paused for a moment looking at it and wondering just why she had grabbed it. She shrugged and reached up to remove her glasses so as to wipe some soot from the sudden flare from the lenses, and slid on the ring as she did so to begin cleaning…

As she slid them back on, not paying any attention to Brian who was reaming out his brother for reckless endangerment, she suddenly became aware of everyone else crying out once more as the room became a good deal brighter.

"ARGH! Turn it off!" Mako shouted, covering his eyes.

"Miss Hikari, it would appear yer crystal's power is manifesting via yer eyes at the moment. Please, remove yer glasses fer the sake of the rest of us," Needlez requested.

"Okay…" Celeste agreed, taking off her glasses as she was told and noticing a pair of small spotlights now projected on the far wall where she was looking. "Woah…"

"Zeffie?" Gold worried, rubbing his eyes as he noticed he no longer was holding the girl.

"WHEEEEE!" Zeffie cheered from up near the ceiling where she was soaring around the stalactites in a state of childhood bliss.

"Zeffie, you get down from there! You could get hurt!" Gold shouted, reaching toward her with his free hand.

Gold had been hoping his young charge would come back down to his extended palm. What actually happened was a hand made of stone suddenly rose up from the floor and gently took hold of Zeffie, easing the girl to the ground despite her protests.

The sudden animation of solid stone had caused Mako, Tim and Brian all to leap backward away from the granite limb. As Zeffie was set down she looked at the two duelists that were staring at the hand had risen from.

"Where'd Bri-Bri go?" Zeffie wondered, noticing the sudden disappearance of the older brother.

"AAHH!" Brian screamed, suddenly plummeting from the ceiling toward the floor.

The others winced as he made contact with the ground, but rather than a sickening crack, there was no noise what so ever. The teen instead sank into a pool of shadows that appeared on the ground and vanished once more.

"Bro?" Tim asked, staring at the floor once again.

"Make it stop!" Brian shouted as he fell from aloft once more only to vanish into another puddle of shadows.

"Cool! Zeffie wants to try!" Zeffie cheered, bounding forward and jumping on the patch of ground Brian had just vanished into with no effect at all.

"I'm gonna be sick!" Brian shouted as he fell past again, landing in another pool of shadows five feet to Zeffie's right.

Zeffie hurried over and stomped on the new patch of ground where the dark duelist had disappeared, only to once more fail to accomplish anything. Gold, in the meantime, reached out as Brian fell by his right shoulder and caught the young man, easing onto the ground.

"Thanks…" Brian said, gasping for breath.

"Still think I'm making it all up?" Needlez challenged with a laugh.

Mako, who had been watching in stunned silence, looked down at his own anklet and thought for a moment.

"Well…I suppose there's only one real way to be sure it's not a complete fable…" Mako reasoned as he began to concentrate.

The ground began to tremble slightly, and the others braced themselves as the Ocean Duelist shone with an aura of blue light. Cracks appeared in the ground, and a small pool of water began to seep from the floor.

Then it all came to a halt. The water slid back into the cracks and Mako fell to one knee, panting in exhaustion.

"Maybe you're trying to hard, Aquaman," Tim suggested, chuckling a bit at the pathetic display.

Mako's response was to cast a stern glare at the younger Hoakge, which resulted in a cannon like blast of water suddenly shooting from the wall and plowing Tim to the floor with its force. Mako drew back a bit in surprise, then smiled as he got to his feet.

"Well, maybe you right about that," Mako admitted, taking his chance to laugh now as a sopping wet Tim got back up.

"Ahem, if yer all quite finished…" Needlez chimed in, drawing attention back to himself. "I suppose yew all believe me now."

"At least about the magic we do," Brian nodded.

"So then, what do yew say? Will the six of yew help me to create a utopian world?" Needlez proposed, fingering his pocket watch.

All six seemed deep in thought. Needlez grinned secretly to himself as the crystal set into his watch began to glow…

One by one, each of the other crystals worn by his tournament champions lit up as well, dimly enough so as not to draw any attention.

The six all looked to one another, and nodded. They looked up to Needlez and Celeste was the first to speak.

"I think we're all in agreement," Celeste smiled. "So, what's the plan exactly?"

"All in due time lass, all in due time," Needlez grinned as the wall behind him rumbled, opening up another passage. "Fer now, let us see to improving those decks of yers. They'll be of great importance soon enough…"

_Bah, yew all know the rest of how this goes._

_The six of them followed me faithfully, blindly, and well for the next year after that. I made them into the duelists they are today._

_Except Mako, I'll fully admit, I made him worse. But he bounced back quick enough!_

_Seems it would be all for naught in the end. They betrayed me to protect this world._

_Fools…_

_But perhaps global domination ain't all it's cracked up to be. To complicated…_

_To much work…_

_There are much simpler things…_

_Like revenge._

_And I'll have it. One day._

_After all, I have eternity on my side…_

A/N: Well, we hope enjoyed this little back story to our fan characters. Now, we have a little announcement. The three of us fell awful due to how long we go between updates on our fics, especially this one. So, to make it up to the fans a bit, we're gonna give you a little control over our next fic.

We already have plans for another fic to serve as the sequel to Virtual Tournament. We just can't decide one thing: Who should do the opening?

So tell us! Which of the Elemental Duelists do you want to hear open the first chapter to our next Yu-Gi-Oh fic? Leave your choice in a review, or send us a private message, or even look up Celeste Hikari on AIM to cast your vote.

Just one thing, Tim and Needlez are NOT eligible choices. Tim did the opening for the Virtual Tournament already, and Needlez opened every chapter in this fic. Gotta be fair to all our characters, right?

We'll post a reminder in the second-last chapter of the Virtual Tournament, and announce the winner in the final chapter of that same fic. Cast you vote early, and give yourselves something to look forward to!

This is Team Santoryuu, signing off! Thanks for reading!


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